


Wrap Around Your Dreams

by Nobodydiestonight (orphan_account)



Series: Eleven O'Clock [4]
Category: American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-03 06:41:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 39,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2841725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Nobodydiestonight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Several months after the events of Still Chasing Down the Demons, Misty is ready for major changes in her relationship with Cordelia. The Supreme isn't as ready as she once thought she might be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Follows "Eleven O'Clock," "Still Chasing Down the Demons," and "Goggles." This is a three-part sequel.

Fall was a blur of festivals and revitalized tradition. Robichaux’s Academy had acquired two new properties for the start of the school year, after a heavy negotiation with the long-term neighbor on their right (the other lot had been empty since the fall previous). Over two dozen more witches than the prior semester were joining the Coven for formal training. With their numbers over a hundred, Cordelia felt more strength and hope for her people than ever in her lifetime.  


They’d held a grand feast to welcome the new school year, within the new industrial dining quarters that had been renovated in the former Ramsey home. All the women of their Coven had gathered for the first breaking of bread together, followed by their first blessing as a group. They had a few girls that were even younger than those they’d taken in the year previous, as well as a few women who were actually older than the Supreme. Performing a sacred unity ceremony, everyone had managed to retain peace in the Coven. 

 

As classes kicked off and powers were growing all around her, Cordelia had to appoint several of her most improved students from the year before to take on roles and responsibilities that her small council of three simply could not keep up with. Along with rearranging bedrooms and declaring various girls with reputable and calm dispositions to figures of authority when it came to living arrangements, by October’s end; just before their celebration of Samhain, everything seemed to be in order.

 

A great harvest celebration was held as the witches prepared to celebrate and honor the dead as well, following tradition from the earliest centuries. November came in next, with a few new revelations in the Coven. Several of the older witches were improving to the point of Cordelia giving them roles as teachers, allowing her more time to take care of administrative details.

 

With the Yule fast approaching, Cordelia was more than ready for their celebration and three week vacation for the young women of her Coven to visit their homes and families for the holiday.   
  
Cracking her neck to the side, she closed her eyes and took off her glasses for a moment, resting her forehead in her hands as she eyed the time — 11:07 in the evening. She was constantly missing the dot for when she used to crawl into bed with Misty; whether or not that was for sleep was another matter. 

 

Since the beginning of the school year, their time together was depleting rapidly. Often one was already sleeping by the time the other was able to get into bed, and then gone by sunrise for this or that.   
  
Misty was just as busy as Cordelia. She’d taken on two more sections of teaching with the youngest of their girls, but more importantly — she’d become something of a resident witch doctor. 

 

After experimenting with various healing techniques using animals that otherwise would have been euthanized at the local shelter, the necromancer had made very quiet and private arrangements, using Cordelia’s persuasive powers, with a doctor who had a practice in the heart of town. Magical and herbal remedies were curing all kinds of potentially terminal illnesses, and Misty was becoming something of a prodigy that Cordelia could not have been more proud of. Sometimes, she’d be in a bit over her head, and the headmistress would step out of a class and channel energy into a patient with her, supporting her magic in any way that she could.   
  
That said, Misty spent more time in the greenhouse-turned-treatment-and-research-lab than Cordelia had ever had the opportunity to. She was often jealous of her partner, who didn’t have all the tasks assigned to leading the Coven under her wing.  
  
As the minutes wore on, Cordelia considered dropping the document she was combing over and heading to bed when a panicked knock in the distance caused her to jump out of her seat and transmutate to the front door. Muttering a protection spell, she opened it, revealing a dark-skinned woman with a limp toddler in her arms.  
  
“I need Misty Day,” She cried, motioning to the child. “She-she helped my sister, once, I was here and she, she took away the tumor in her brain, and my baby, he’s not breathing, and I—”

 

Cordelia put a hand on the woman’s shoulder and ushered her in, quickly moving through the halls. Kyle was half dressed in a pair of sweats and white shirt, having come down to answer the door. “Where’s Misty?” Cordelia called to him over her shoulder as she took the lady out back, to the greenhouse.  
  
“She’s still out back!” He responded, turning to lock the door that the Supreme had left open. 

 

The witch tossed open the greenhouse door with a tilt of her head, leading the mother and child through to where the lights were still on and Misty was singing to herself as she poured a dark blue liquid into a container, goggles protecting her sight.

 

She lifted her head up with a smile, having expected her girlfriend to come tear her away from the work eventually, when her lips curled into a frown. She stood up and pulled off the pair of gloves she had on, motioning the woman to the room off to the side, where a medical exam table stood in the center. “Carolanne, right?” Misty asked and the woman tearfully nodded.   
  
“My baby, Micah, I come to check on him, and he wasn’t breathing! He had a little fever when I put him to bed, I gave him children’s Tylenol, and now—”  
  
Misty hovered over the child, turning her ear just above his nose, with a hand on his heart. She closed her eyes and breathed against his mouth, squinting as she brought him back to life.

 

The boy coughed and sputtered and Misty rolled him to his side as he vomited whatever had been the last contents of his stomach. Carolanne had her hands over her mouth as she reached forward for him, but Misty shook her head. “I ain’t finished, dear, hang on. He’s got something buggin’ in ‘im. I’m gonna get it out ‘fore he gets any sicker.”

 

Misty sat him up while Cordelia hovered near the side, wishing the younger witch would holler out instructions. Instead she pressed her palms onto his back and he coughed out twice, then sighed as Misty made a similar noise. “‘Delia, can you bring me Echinacea and Oregano Oil? Micah’s gonna be fine.”

 

The not-quite-two-year-old stared up at Misty with confusion, reaching for a feather that was clipped into her hair. “No thanks, baby boy. You take it easy, now. That was quite a fever to knock you out like that.”

 

The Supreme brought the herbal remedies that Misty requested. Knowing what to do, she opened the mini-fridge below a counter that held instruments that they rarely used to identify problems, and found a fourth of a container of orange juice. Taking a cup, she mixed in the proper amount of the treatment given the boy’s size, trying to kill the taste of the bitter herbs.

 

Misty took the cup with a gentle thanks as Cordelia placed a hand at her lower back while the witch doctor helped Micah drink the remedy, tilting the cup back and supporting his head. “Drink it all, baby boy, that’s it,” She cooed until it was gone. “There ya go, sweetie.” Misty let out a huge breath as Cordelia kissed her cheek in congratulations of saving another life before she turned to prepare a to-go bag for Carolanne to keep the boy’s infection from bouncing back. 

 

“He’ll need a teaspoon of each, morning and afternoon for the next ten days,” Misty explained as the young mother reached for her baby.   
  
The woman was still crying, though now, in thanks. “I’m so sorry, I don’t have any money, I’ll make this up to you somehow, Misty—”

 

“I don’t accept money,” The witch assured her, clapping her shoulder. “But since you just confirmed my next question, I’m gonna insist you come inside with us so we can get you some cash to fill up your tank with—”

 

Carolanne shook her head, “I couldn’t—”

 

“—There’s a very well-lit station up at the corner, by the diner. If you press the handicapped button and tell them that you’ve got a baby, they’ll come out and fill your tank up for you, don’t you go leavin’ Micah in the car now, ya’hear?”

 

After cleaning up the boy’s sick and Cordelia readying the potion, the three made way to the office, providing the mother with a grocery card and cash for gas, which she took with words that expressed her sincere gratitude. The powerful couple showed them out, Misty leaning back against the door once Carolanne’s car was started and the baby buckled in safely. “All in a day’s work, right?” She stated with a very sleepy grin.

 

Cordelia could only nod and pull her in for a long hug, cradling the back of her head. “I am so proud of you,” She sighed, kissing the woman’s neck. “You constantly amaze me. I used to think you were the next Supreme for a reason.”

 

Misty embraced back just as tightly, moaning at the contact, wanting to close her eyes but afraid she’d fall asleep if she did so. “If I were, I wouldn’t have had time to learn how to do _that_ , then save a little boy.” She nuzzled Cordelia’s hair before pulling back. “I’m going to go clean up what I’d been working on. I’ll join you in—”

 

“I’ll help,” The older witch insisted, taking Misty’s fingers and lacing them in her own as they returned to the greenhouse. Cordelia watched the navy blue liquid that glittered in a glass tube, wondering what was inside.  
  
“I can’t tell you,” Misty teased when she voiced the question. “‘Cause you aren’t ready for it.”

 

The Supreme felt a lump form in the back of her throat. She had a feeling that she knew what it was. There was only one side project that her girlfriend worked regularly on since March of the previous year.

 

“Okay,” She shrugged, acting as if she was clueless while helping Misty put away the remainder of the tools and herbs and oils that were out before wiping down the countertop. She had originally figured Misty would either never find a treatment or that they’d eventually get so impatient that they’d seek other methods — she hadn’t anticipated the woman, however genius she may be, would find a way to make a baby with her in less than a year of research and trials.   
  
Misty placed the potion in a cabinet that had quite a few others in it, locking it with her magic before standing and stretching. “Ready?”

 

Cordelia silently nodded, following her girlfriend out of the lab as they closed it down and turned out the lights. They were upstairs in a minute, both exhausted beyond words.

 

Misty merely shed her skirts and top at the edge of the bed, taking off bracelets and necklaces, letting them litter the nightstand on her side of the bed before crawling between the comforter and sheet wearing just underwear.   
  
The Supreme had gone into the closet to change into a nightgown and smiled to herself at the sight of Misty’s bare arm over her head on her side, probably already asleep. Taking her dirty clothes, she tossed them in the laundry basket before heading to the bathroom to wash her face.  
  
Her eyes clear of the day’s makeup, Cordelia stared at herself in the mirror — dark circles were growing daily under her eyes, which were losing their spark. Biting her lip she tilted her body to the side, watching for a moment out the doorway as Misty’s chest rose and fell slowly. She’d already drifted off.  
  
Wrestling with herself for only a moment, the older witch opened the medicine cabinet and stared at a prescription that was neatly tucked behind her usual ointments and herbs, that wouldn’t have been seen unless one was looking for it. Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, the Supreme made a decision and opened the orange container, popping a pill and shaking her head before turning to join her girlfriend in bed.

 

Misty’s breathing was disrupted for a moment as Cordelia tried to slide into bed without the mattress dipping. It did just enough to cause Misty to blink an eye hardly halfway open, reaching the hand that was above her out to fold her lover’s fingers between her own. “Night, ‘Delia,” She muttered in one breath, falling asleep again instantly. 

 

Cordelia sighed and leaned over, kissing her temple before settling into her pillow, keeping intertwined with the woman she loved so tenderly, wishing that sleep would come as easily for her.  
  
X  
  
Misty rolled over to the sound of Cordelia’s alarm blaring on the other side of the bed. The Supreme was still completely asleep, not at all phased by the ringing. Groaning, the taller witch reached over her girlfriend’s body, stopping the alarm and running a hand over her face, pushing her hair back. Staring down at the woman who’d managed to ignore the most obnoxious noise on the planet, Misty pressed her lips together, gently stroking the strands of blonde that had fallen over Cordelia’s face in the night. She’d never slept through an alarm, even after nights where Misty had left her completely spent. 

 

The one-year anniversary of the woman’s title was hardly a week away, though from the constant state of exhaustion she’d been in lately, one might think she’d been the reigning Supreme for decades. Tilting her head to the side, Misty wondered just how pissed off and fit to be tied the headmistress would be if she let her sleep in and took on her morning responsibilities. Though she wasn’t personally affected by it terribly often, Misty knew that Cordelia hadn’t been sleeping right since September, a stark contrast from months previous when the younger witch had been battling her own inner demons.   
  
Figuring she could handle a fuming Supreme for a few hours, Misty knew that she’d unbunch her panties in little time. Sneaking off the mattress, the healer tip-toed to the bathroom, hopping in the shower with no music, meaning she was able to turn the spray off in around seven minutes rather than the entire _Rumors_ album that she usually bathed to. Wrapping a towel around her head, the woman walked across the floorboards naked until she crossed to the closet, humming under her breath as she searched for an outfit that Cordelia would have a difficult time staying mad at her in.  
  
Settling on a short brown skirt with a red, fringy tank top that screamed _ravish me_ , Misty set a tan hat over her damp curls. Shoving a few bangles up her wrist, the witch sighed at her appearance in a full-length mirror at the neck of the closet. She shrugged, smeared some dark eyeshadow on and pulled up a tall pair of boots before sneaking out the door, vowing to wake her girlfriend before eleven if she wasn’t already up and blowing her top by then.

  
Misty greeted the sitting room full of witches enjoying morning tea — breakfast didn’t start until seven thirty, but there was always a kettle on in the kitchen by six. “Mornin’.”

 

An older witch, one of her favorite newcomers, raised a dark brow. “Up before your woman? It must be an omen.”

 

The necromancer giggled, pulling her legs under her as she fell into a loveseat for just a moment. “Nah, poor ‘Delia’s just whipped. She slept through her alarm goin’ off — you know that’s serious. I’ll take my beating when it comes, but I ain’t wakin’ her. She needs the sleep.”

 

“Something tells me you enjoy the punishment,” The woman joked.

 

Misty flushed. “Autumn, I will plead the fifth on that one.”   
  
Autumn lifted her drink with a wink and Misty leaned her head back, eyeing the time. “I suppose I should go figure out what my fair lady had planned this morning. I’ll be seein’ ya at breakfast.”

 

Thankful that Cordelia was meticulously organized, Misty was able to open her plan book that was neatly at the edge of her desk, finding the exact topic for the morning gathering. Locating the text that she was going to read and refer to, the council member settled into the Supreme’s desk, determining what needed to be said. Understanding the message enough to give a summary, she flipped through the other morning plans, noting two classes that Cordelia was supposed to hold. Smirking at the one, she noted the objective was to study and answer questions about upcoming exam. Knowing the group of girls was in a unit detailing chakras and energy flow, Misty felt comfortable enough to answer questions about that. The last task of the morning was to lead a small team of girls who’d been working on controlling their fire power. Eyeing the master schedule in the back of the plan book, Misty noted that Queenie wasn’t in charge of a class at that time.

 

Shuffling out of the room, the book for morning gathering folded in her arms, Misty made her way down the newly built tunnel that led to the property to the right of Robichaux’s proper.   
  
Thumping music met her ears and the young woman was glad that she and Cordelia would never be separated. The house that held the older girls was a bit more of a free for all than Misty could tolerate, but the young women were coming along in their magic and enjoying their time at the academy. Cordelia let their more unruly behavior be kept behind the closed doors and stayed out of their business, so long as Queenie, the head of the house, reported anything dangerous, disturbing, over overly destructive to her.  
  
She was happily met with cheers at her arrival and Misty wondered how the teenage and adolescent girls could be so excited so early in the morning. “Ya’ll high?” She wondered, plopping down on a counter stool, looking around at their small kitchen; though they all had formal meals in the dining hall, each house still had a smaller place for girls to make their own food if they wanted to. At least the dishes were done.  
  
“Not yet,” Madison grinned, sliding herself up onto the countertop as she marched into the room. “What brings you to our whore house?”

 

“Lookin’ for Queenie. Unless you wanna lead a class this morning?”

 

The former movie star rolled her eyes. “I could, but my god, why would I want to?”

 

“Score some brownie points with ‘Delia? ‘Sides it is pyrokinesis. You’re pretty damn skilled at that.” Misty grinned. She didn’t hate Madison. In fact, since the starlet had rejoined their Coven in the fall, they’d spent quality time together and developed a sense of friendship that neither girl had ever had.

 

“Obviously,” Madison ruffled her hair and clicked away at the keyboard of her phone. “What time?”

 

“Half passed ten. ‘Delia’s got a group’a little ones that really need to get it under control. I’d teach ‘em, but that’s really not my strength. I was gonna ask Queenie, but...”

 

“Mm,” The shorter girl shrugged. “What’s Cordy up to? Making deals with Papa this morning?”

 

“She’s sleeping, actually,” Misty rubbed her fingers over her forehead. “Think you could help?”

 

“Fine,” Madison stood, “But remember this.”

 

“I will,” Misty smiled, feeling success that she’d gotten everything covered that needed to be and nothing would be canceled in Cordelia’s absence. “Wanna come to breakfast with me?”

 

Madison raised a brow. “Why?”

 

Taking a turn to roll her eyes, Misty led her to the door that would take them through the underground tunnels and up to the dining hall. “‘Cause I haven’t seen you in frickin’ forever and despite your gator-like exterior, you’re actually a real softie who’s been missin’ me something fierce.”

 

“You caught me,” The former actress said sarcastically as they threw themselves at a two-seater table and waited for the breakfast line to die down. “But for real, though, what’s going on with your girlfriend? She’s been a total spazz lately, even for her.”  
  
Misty rested her chin in her palm, wishing she hand an answer. “She’s not been sleepin’, I know that. That’s why when she didn’t wake up to her alarm this morning, I made the executive decision to let her sleep while she can. I don’t think she’s getting sick, at least, nothing I can see. But she’s off, you’re right. She’s clammed up, though, not talkin’ about it.”

 

“Have you been fucking regularly?” 

 

Shooting her a glare, Misty raised her shoulders and sighed loudly. “ _No_. Since this damn school year started, our intimacy's been so irregular. I mean, I’m tired, too. Healing takes a lot of energy, but it feels like about half the time I try to initiate something lately, she’s all closed off. Doesn’t even kiss me and tell me _later, baby_. It sucks.” She shook her head, flushing deeply. “I don’t know what I’m telling you all this for, but please, please don’t say anything to ‘Delia, I don’t want her thinkin’ I’m all upset—”  
  
Madison tilted her head, though she had her usual leer of disinterest on, there was also a sparkle of genuine advice coming out of her. “I hate to say it? But she used to get like this, before you were ever here. Hank,” She stuck out her tongue, “The bastard that he was, would try and do all kinds of nice things for her — sweet little gestures, shit that even I would eat up. But when she’s fucking done with something, she’s hardly subtle. I hope that she’s not _done_ with you already. You made her happy, and god, when Cordelia’s happy, everybody’s happy.”

 

Swallowing nervously, Misty brought her arms over her chest, kicking the floor with the heel of her boot. “Do you think that...I’ve pushed her away?” She lowered her vice with a secret that Madison had promised to keep around their harvest celebration, “With the baby stuff? Or is this just her?”

 

“You might have said or done something that you literally didn’t even realize, and she’s holding it against you. Cordelia Goode doesn’t forget. Ever. Nothing. Not a damn thing.”  
  
Misty bit her lip. “I’ve always been honest with her. I’d hoped she would do the same for me, but...maybe she’s not. Shit, Madison. Now I’m all shook.”

 

“That’s probably a good thing,” Madison pressed her lips together, standing as she eyed the food line winding down. “The more worked up about it you are, the more you’re going to be driven to do something about it. So...do something about it. When she gets up later, sit her ass down and tell her what you just told me. Squeeze the truth out of her, then please, for all our sakes? Fuck her good. She needs it. And so do we.”   
  
X  
  
Misty stood before the group that numbered over a hundred with a forced smile. She’d never been a leader, a public speaker — but there were a lot of things she was willing to take on for Cordelia. Their gathering room had been extended with the renovations from the summer, with room for just about everybody to actually sit for the meetings.

 

“Where’s Miss Cordelia?” One of their youngest charges questioned, sitting right up front with her arms wrapped around her legs.   
  
“She has the morning off,” Misty answered nicely.  
  
The same twiggy, brown-eyed girl wondered, “Did you give her a sleeping potion?”

 

Rolling her eyes, Misty responded, “You think the only way that Cordelia’s taking a morning off is against her will?”

 

The group responded with a very dry _yes_ and Misty shrugged while Queenie and Zoe snickered from their spots up front. Shooting them a look, the necromancer sighed. “Anyway, this morning our lovely Supreme was going to share with some kind’a overview of the _actual_ Christmas traditions that the Christians took over and claimed as their own. What really happened was that our people from the very first century of witchcraft, which was well before the birth of a Christ child, had mistletoe, yule logs, holly, ivy, and even Santa Claus himself as a part of the Yule time traditions. The true meaning of Christmas actually has a lot of blood sacrifices behind it, as well as honoring the goddesses that our people have always believed in.”

 

Misty felt a little awkward, feeling that she sounded like a text book. The girls in front of her looked skeptical, but interested. She continued after a breath. “Anyway, the Yule is the season for starting over — the thirteen nights that we celebrate remind us that though our year is cyclical, we are always changing. It’s also a time to practice warding off evil spirits.” She smiled, as if she knew what she were talking about, “I’m gonna let Cordelia discuss more on this, since she’s more knowledgable and all, but we’ve got the morning blessing. If you could all join hands?” They obliged and Misty looked at the little prayer card that she’d found tucked in with the information that Cordelia was going to detail to the girls. 

 

The women of the coven all raised their hands and stood to formally greet one another with smiles and embraces, the room full of life and wonder for the next few minutes as they mingled their good mornings. Misty stood proud at the front, accepting her morning greetings from the girls who approached her, spending a little extra time hugging the younger girls, who sometimes just missed home. “As for ‘Delia’s morning classes, I’ll be taking the chakra group. Madison,” She eyed the starlet in the corner of the room, who rarely came to any gatherings. “Will take the junior pyrokinesis group at 10:30. Meet here. All others, remember that we’re only a few days out from our celebration of the Yule that we’ll be hearin’ more about and headin’ home for those of you who’re out’ta here for the holidays. Please remember what chores you’ve got to do. Now, Zoe will lead you in morning meditation.”

 

Feeling quite authoritative, Misty left the room in the manner in which Cordelia often did, transmuating to the woman’s office to take care of the administrative checklist for the morning as best she could.   
  
Humming to herself, the witch ruffled through Cordelia’s day planner, absolutely meticulous with notes and agendas, discovering a few tasks she could accomplish on her own.  
  
 _E-mail Little Cammilee’s Bakery — thanking them for their service to our Coven for this Saturday’s gathering._  
  
Shrugging, figuring it was easy enough, the witch opened up Cordelia’s laptop, finding her email and typing off something that sounded professional.  
  
 _Call UPS — confirm delivery at 3:30PM today._  
  
Picking up the office phone, Misty sucked up her phone anxiety and punched in the number, speaking in her most formal voice to the secretary that answered.  
  
Checking off the item on the list, she noted there were only two more things to do for the morning – _Send out poll for next semester’s classes via DropBox_ and _Prepare next week’s morning gatherings: Yule Topic_ s. Deciding both could wait until the afternoon or evening, Misty headed to the greenhouse for a forty minutes of peace before she’d have to take over the Chakra class.

 

Needing some music, Misty settled on her _Wild Heart_ album and let it pound over the surround sound speaker system that Cordelia had installed over the summer. She opened her cabinet that she’d locked with magic the night before, taking out the rack of tubes that held her most delicate potions yet.

 

She was still no expert at alchemy, but Misty was fully confident in the remedies she’d come up with over the fall semester. Knowing that Cordelia didn’t want to even consider having a baby until at least the late spring, Misty decided to wait to start her animal trails until after the new year. Based on the Supreme’s mood and disposition, she was uncertain if a baby was even in the question for awhile.   
  
Biting her lip, she swirled a tube of purple and silver liquid, letting the glittery effect calm her. Misty, now twenty-six, was starting to feel the urge for motherhood nipping at her. Every time she saw Cordelia, a tingle ran through her that wasn’t just desire. She genuinely wanted to solidify the life they had together. She desired nothing more than to raise up a little family with the woman that she loved more than anyone she ever could.  
  
Huffing, she closed her eyes and gave a prayer of hope to the spirits — whatever and whoever was listening, that the wait wouldn’t be long. Still — she’d respect her girlfriend’s wishes. There was no point in pressuring her for a baby if her heart wasn’t into bringing one into the world at the present. 

 

Sliding the potions back, the witch drummed her fingers on the countertop, willing the morning to go by faster.   
  
X  
  
Silently opening her bedroom door, Misty crept in to find Cordelia still sound asleep, though having rolled more onto her stomach, an arm draped over her head. She looked positively damn sexy in the pose.

 

Licking her lips, the younger witch wished she didn’t have to wake her, but decided that if she let the woman sleep past eleven, she’d probably find herself sleeping on a couch for a few nights. Letting the mattress dip at her weight, Misty slid herself over in her usual spot, running slow fingers over the Supreme’s hair. Cordelia moaned as her hands slipped over the woman’s shoulders and down her back. “‘Stee...” She barely groaned out her name and Misty chuckled as she stretched and rolled onto her back, fighting to open her eyes. 

 

“Hey, darlin’,” Misty smiled, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “I’m gonna tell you something, and you’re gonna get mad. But I did it with love.” Cordelia blinked an eye open, clearly somewhat aware that it was not six in the morning, given the brightness of the room. “It’s eleven in the morning. I let you sleep in.”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She sat up abruptly, staring at the clock with her mouth open. 

 

“No, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t hate me too much for it. Baby, you been so damn tired — and you didn’t even hear your alarm go off. It was going off for so long that _I_ heard it. You’re exhausted and clearly needed the sleep—”  
  
“Misty I’ve got so much to do!” Cordelia was nearly yelling. “Goddamnit, I needed this time to get things done, five hours wasted, and I had two classes this morning, Misty!”  
  
The younger woman crossed her arms, wishing she’d get the second to explain, “I’m aware that you had shit to do. I introduced the Yule topic for morning gatherings, took care of your email and called the UPS. I took your first class and did the Chakra review, they all did wonderful, and Madison is with the junior pyros right now—”  
  
“Oh, Jesus _Christ_ —”  
  
“— They were laughin’ and doin’ great when I left ‘em. You can be mad, but don’t let it last for too long, please?”

 

Cordelia opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to figure out what she could say. “I wish you’d have woken me up and asked if you could do those things.”

 

“Well, I didn’t. Though maybe I should say — I couldn’t. You weren’t budgin’. You were freakin‘ exhausted. Now I know you haven’t been sleepin’. I didn’t wanna push anything on you, butyou do know that you or I could whip something up to curb that.”

 

Grunting, the Supreme flopped back down, her head against the pillow as she rolled to her side away from her girlfriend. The younger witch frowned deeply, blinking a little bit quickly so she could keep her emotions to herself. Shrugging, she decided to aline her body next to Cordelia’s, wrapping her arms around her middle and spooning her.  
  
Cordelia wanted to yell and scream, but she couldn’t. She could never stay mad at Misty for long.  
  
“I’d say sorry, but I’m not. I’m glad you got some sleep. You really needed it. You’ve been real snippy — a few of the girls were concerned. I just don’t understand why you don’t try one of your awesome sleeping potions?”

 

The witch pulled away and rolled onto her back, confessing, “I have. They’re not working. If anything — I’m more awake when I take them.”

 

“ _‘Delia_ ,” Her girlfriend pouted, propping herself up on an elbow. he reached out a hand over Cordelia’s middle, hugging her side. “I know how stressed you are — truly, I do. And I think you’ve done a pretty good job of delegating, but it’s such a big job. And it’s exhausting.” Noticing the Supreme’s visible swallow, she sighed and leaned her head on the woman’s shoulder, kissing the exposed skin of her chest. “Why didn’t you tell me, sweetheart?”

 

Cordelia leaned her cheek to rest across the top of Misty’s curly locks. “Complaining isn’t going to change the fact that I’m the Supreme.”  
  
“Not to complain,” Misty scoffed, rubbing just below her girlfriend’s breasts. “But to unload, and maybe I could help you come up with something different so you could catch a few winks.” She sighed, sitting up a little, meeting the witch’s brown eyes. “You taught me how important it is to talk about my problems, then come up with a constructive solution. Will you let me do that with you?”

 

Cordelia rolled over again, burying her head into Misty’s side. “Or we could just lay here,” She mumbled into a blanket.

 

Rolling her eyes, Misty reached her fist into the woman’s hair, giving a firm tug to the base of her neck, receiving a moan in response. “If I’ve done something to upset you, please tell me. I can take it. I want to fix it.” She leaned down, touching the top of the Supreme’s head with her own. “I love you.”

  
With a whimper, the Supreme only nuzzled further into Misty’s lap. “Okay,” The younger witch sighed. “Fine. But just know, I ain’t leavin’ you. I’m still gonna love on you and make love you you and love you. No matter what, ‘Delia. I’m _here_ , okay? Even if you’re mad at me, I’m here.”  
  
Cordelia tilted her head, glancing up at her girlfriend with one eye, with a watery, “Thank you,” She sat up. Misty cupped her face and leaned in for a long kiss, which Cordelia accepted, despite whatever she was feeling.

 

Understanding the unspoken message that the witch was sending her, Misty pulled away, nodding. “ _I promise._ ”  
  
Knowing that was true, Cordelia confessed, “I went to the doctor, last week. When I told you I was going to check on the runes at the shop downtown.” Misty sat up, feeling slightly betrayed by not only a little lie, but that she’d sought out a healing source other than her. “He gave me a prescription for sleeping pills. I took one last night.”  
  
The younger witch opened and closed her mouth, shaking her head. “Cordelia,” She used her full name and the Supreme couldn’t meet her eyes. “Baby, why?”  
  
“Because I’m so tired,” She breathed, dabbing her eyes which were starting to shed tears. “And I can’t turn off my brain. Even the potion I made for you last spring didn’t work.”

 

Misty crawled over her girlfriend’s body, hiding her face in her neck. She wondered what else the Supreme was hiding from her.

 

X

 

Misty was enjoying learning about the Yule traditions more than anyone else in the Coven; it was obvious. She’d always been the first to soak up every bit of Cordelia’s teachings, but with the Supreme’s obvious enthusiasm for the season, the witch was even more passionate to share that excitement.   
  
“Did you and Fiona celebrate together?”

 

Cordelia shrugged as they took a few dusty boxes out of the garage on a chilly, early December morning the Saturday after her half day off. Misty was balanced high on a ladder as she sought through the rafters for what the Supreme was looking for — decorations and traditions that hadn’t been used in ages.   
  
“Actually, yes — when I was little. My mother ensured that I knew that the American Santa Clause and Christmas was bullshit. One of the few traditional teachings she did with me was the ancient tradition of Yule, in her own way, of course.”  
  
Misty passed her down boxes and she stacked them on the floor — rare, warm memories of childhood washing over her as she did so.  
  
Cordelia thought on Misty’s question for the remainder of the day — she’d enjoyed the holiday season with her mother as a a little girl. They were some of her only honest moments of childhood that she had to hold onto. Thinking on the potions that aligned the shelves of Misty’s medicine cabinets in the greenhouse, she bit her lip, wondering if such happy memories were meant to be shared with a child of her own.

 

She and the members of her council had used telekinesis to hang the traditional Yule time decor after dusting off the old treasures of Yule times past. Cordelia knew it had been at since Fiona’s supremacy that they’d been last used — but with a little magic, they were good as new.   
  
She’d had the members of her Coven banned from the main house until after dinner — they’d been assigned readings on the symbols and traditions of witch’s Yule past. Groups had been formed and they’d be presenting on the _true_ meaning of what the world had modernized as Christmas while they finished decorating for their upcoming celebration. 

 

Misty hugged Cordelia from behind as they prepared to settle down for a dinner of the council — Cordelia, Misty, Zoe, and Queenie. Even Kyle and Madison, who often dined with the big four, were in the dining hall that evening. Cordelia, who had little time to cook given her responsibilities, was whipping them up a pasta dish that Queenie complained she hadn’t made in over a year. “It’s nice ‘n quiet around here,” Misty began, kissing Cordelia’s neck as the woman stirred the sauce. “Sometimes I wish it were like this more often.”

 

“Are you missing the swamp?” Cordelia questioned, tapping the spoon on a pan and resting it in a holder so she could turn and hug the younger witch back. 

 

“Nah,” Misty tucked Cordelia under her head — she had four inches on the older woman when she wore her boots and the Supreme was in flats. “Just...us, this, I guess. I think we were spoiled by the summer. This fall went by so fast I hardly saw it go — but, I feel like I hardly spent time with you, too.” She pouted, kissing her girlfriend’s temple.

 

Cordelia sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she picked her head up to meet Misty’s gaze. “I’m sorry — don’t shush me,” She said with a knowing smirk as her partner tried to defend that she wasn’t upset about their time apart. “I am. I wish I was better at balancing this. I’d hoped that by now,” She sighed, looking down at the Earth, “You know it’s been almost a year?” 

 

“Yeah,” Misty’s voice grew distant — the anniversary of Cordelia’s Supremacy, and Misty’s death, was falling around the same time as the Yule celebration. Neither of them wanted to think about those strange, dark days that they’d spent apart. “I was hoping not to really give it much thought. Thinkin’ about being in hell might put a damper on our festivities.”

 

“No,” Cordelia took her hands, “If it’s weighing on you, we have to talk about it,” She squeezed her lover’s palms, “Even if it brings us to a little bit of a dark place during the holiday. This season is about thinking of the past year, and all that we did — while welcoming in the new. It’s apart of our lives, it’s what happened. We had a really, really tough go for awhile, but in the end, it did bring us closer together.” She kissed Misty’s cheek and let go of her hands as she prepared to turn back to their supper, “I’m trying to figure this all out still, and I need your help to do that. I don’t want this to be all about me. If you’re wrestling with those demons, then let’s face them together, okay?”

 

Misty reached her hand over to cup Cordelia’s face. “I love you, ‘Delia. And...yeah, I think...I think we’ve got a lot of reflecting to do, and a lot to figure out for this year.”

 

She ran her fingers over the Supreme’s abdomen, and the action wasn’t subtle. Cordelia swallowed hard and turned around to face the stove. “A lot of reflecting to do,” She repeated.   
  
X  
  
December twenty-first came far too quickly. Cordelia felt that she should have had a few more days between the anniversary of her Supremacy / the Yule celebration and when she’d started getting the Coven ready.  
  
Running a blow-dryer through her hair, she kept eyeing the time on the digital clock across the room on her nightstand — they were starting the festivities at seven o’clock, and it was already six twenty.  
  
Biting her lip, she deemed her hair dry enough and hastily tossed the hot rollers in, grateful she was only getting herself ready. Zoe had offered to tackle Misty’s hair for the occasion, and Cordelia had teased that was gift enough for the holiday season.  
  
Applying her makeup, a little bit less subdued than her usual daily face; longer lashes, bolder shades of copper against her eyes.  
  
Quickly unwinding her rollers, Cordelia was pleased with the way her now curly hair bounced against her pale skin. Just as she buckled her second shoe around her ankle, the door squeaked open and an absolutely stunning face entered the room.

 

“Misty _Day_ ,” Cordelia grinned, standing as the younger woman flushed and crossed the floor. “Damn, are you real?”

 

“I hope so,” The witch flushed, having an almost equal reaction to Cordelia’s lovely locks. “I love this,” She touched the curly ends, wanting to kiss the lipstick off her girlfriend and tear the holiday dress in two to show her just how damn sexy she thought she looked. Cordelia was a classic sight of beauty, while Misty’s dress was a bit more vintage, yet very fitting for the young woman. Her hair had been set in rollers, then pinned into an elaborate up-do, a few tendrils curling around her cheeks. The makeup on her face made her look like she was headed to a gala.

 

Cordelia set her hands on Misty’s hips right where her dress flared out. “You’re stunning, ‘Delia.”  
  
“So are you,” The Supreme smiled. “Thank you.”

 

“For what?” Misty smiled, her teeth gleaming against the shade of red on her mouth. 

 

The older woman shrugged. “Dressing up for me, going along with my ideas for this silly celebration — everything you do...I don’t know. Just, thank you. This year has been a challenge for the both of us. I’m excited to let out the old, let the darkness of this year burn away, then welcome the new in; time for you and I to hopefully spend more together and figure out our relationship.”  
  
Almost frowning Misty’s brows knit together. “What’s there to figure out? I love you, ‘Delia. And you love me. What’s more simple than that?”

 

Feeling brave, Cordelia lifted one hand from Misty’s waist to play with her fingers. “I-I don’t mean like...I guess, what I want to figure out is where we go from here. There’s still so much that I’m trying to balance with being the Supreme, and I don’t think that I got it all under control in this first year. I suppose, I just want to find a better way to love you and hold this Coven up without sacrificing one for the other.”  
  
Almost tasting the disappointment radiating off of Misty, she wasn’t surprised when the witch mumbled, “You’re tryin’ to dance around saying that you’re nowhere near ready to be makin’ a baby with me, aren’t you,” She didn’t ask, she stated.  
  
Cordelia opened and closed her mouth — having really not wanted to get into such an argument before what was supposed to be one of the highlights of their year. “I guess I’m saying that,” She shrugged, unable to meet Misty’s gaze. 

 

Misty pulled away from the other hand that was holding her near Cordelia, sighing as she paced the floor — the heels of her button up, victorian style boots clacking across the floorboards. Cordelia wanted to melt into a puddle of regret, wishing she hadn’t said anything at all to get the tension flowing between them. “Misty, listen, it’s not that I don’t want to have a baby with you. I would love for us to be able to settle down somewhere and start trying to do that. I think if we were in a different position, we could certainly start thinking about that right now. But we’re not.”

 

“‘Delia, I don’t want you to feel like you’d be doing this on your own,” Misty insisted, her drawl coming out a little bit harder as her frustration started to heat up. 

 

“I don’t,” Cordelia closed her eyes, pressing her lips together. Misty had never been through what she’d been through in trying to make a baby — it wasn’t as simple as the younger witch thought, no matter how many potions she’d whipped together. Trying to get pregnant was exhausting and traumatic. When she’d been told a little over a year ago that she’d never naturally have a child, she’d shut down any perception of ever becoming a mother.   
  
Knowing that it was possible to conceive now that she was the Supreme hadn’t changed that viewpoint.  
  
“Then why, why don’t you at least want to start tryin’? I’m sure this is all gonna work. I’ve read this front to back — I’m testing it as soon as the New Year turns and I get that next batch’a animals from the shelter, and I’m so sure of my intention, there’s no way it can’t take. ‘Delia, I wanna do this. I wanna be a mother, don’t you?”

 

“Maybe someday,” Cordelia wasn’t sure if she was being honest, shaking her head and bringing her chin up a little as Misty came to stand in front of her, “But like I said, I’m still trying to figure out this balance. I really don’t think that adding a baby to the chaos right now would be good for me, or our relationship — or that poor child, who’d be shuffled around in the middle of it. I’m very sorry, Misty, but I don’t know that it’s going to happen when you want it to. And if you really want to be a mother right now, that badly, I...I don’t know what to tell you to do.”  


Misty, though obviously flustered, held Cordelia’s hand, looking her square in the eye as she swore, up, down and sideways, “Okay. I’m not gonna abandon you. I’m not gonna leave you, just ‘cause you’re not ready for this — I won’t, ‘Delia, I love you. And if it means waitin’ for a baby, then I’ll wait. ‘Sides, I won’t have the trials done until the spring, even if I’m working ‘round the clock, and maybe it might be better if we work on that next fall, then we can have the whole summer with our little one.”  
  
Cordelia swallowed thickly — Misty just wasn’t _getting_ it, but she didn’t want to ruin the Yuletide celebration. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore right now,” She sighed, “Misty, can’t we just go enjoy the party?”

 

The younger witch shrugged, biting her lip. “Then when _are_ we going to talk about it?”  
  
The Supreme tried not to roll her watery eyes back — they’d been skirting around the issue all season, she knew, but giving Misty the straight, honest answer of: _I’m not sure that I’ll ever be ready for a baby_ was turning out to be more of a challenge than anything she’d faced as Supreme. She reached forward and clutched the woman’s hands, not meeting her eyes as she suggested, “See how the trials take, huh? No sense getting all excited if it doesn’t work.”

 

Misty blinked a few times fast, whispering, “You don’t think it’s going to work?”

 

“I didn’t say that,” Cordelia insisted, wanting to hit herself against the wall. “I mean, if they work, then we’ll know — and we’ll be able to figure out a good time that works for both of us. If, by chance, they don’t work, we’ll have to try and come up with another solution which might put our timeline off. Does that make sense? I’m not doubting your abilities — it’s just, this hasn’t ever been done before.”

 

“Fine,” Misty shrugged, clearly not okay with the answers she’d been getting. Huffing, she turned away, the champagne colored dress she wore spinning with her as she started to walk out of the room. “I didn’t realize wanting to talk about expanding our family was going to ruin your holiday.”

 

Cordelia opened her mouth, but no words came out. And at her hesitation, the younger witch’s suspicion was confirmed. “I’ll see you downstairs, ‘Delia.”

 

Their bedroom door opened then slammed shut, and the shorter blonde took a moment to stare up at the ceiling, bringing her hands together under her chin as she blinked away tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. 

 

None did and she sighed, holding her head straight, catching sight of her reflection in the mirror. She looked classy as all getup in the sleeveless, tight, black ball gown she wore — a perfect compliment to Misty’s puffier, sleeved, cream hued dress. If only she felt like the image they displayed, they’d be having a wonderful first Yule celebration together.

 

Cordelia reached a hand to clutch at her grandmother’s necklace that she’d clipped on for the event, shaking her head, letting the neatly styled blonde curls that tumbled down her shoulders shake. Even if they weren’t on the same page about the future, the Supreme would not have her first Yule celebration in years be tarnished by memories of impending doom.

 

Sucking up her emotions, she walked out of the room in a flurry of forced positivity, heading down the spiral staircase and meeting a whooping cry of approval from the girls of her Coven who were gathered in the foyer, forcing her smile. She noted Misty off to the side, a rare drink in her hand. Ignoring it, the witch greeted her girls with an introductory speech that she hoped they’d take to heart.

 

“We’ve been studying the Yule tradition for a week. We’ve come to know the true meaning of this celebration, and I can’t wait to properly kick this even off with a little light.”

 

Kyle kept to the cue she’d told him, bringing forth a heavy log. The ladies of the Coven followed him to the fireplace in their gathering room, standing around Cordelia. “This light will represent the receding of our days of darkness. It will signify the end of our year, and the welcoming of one anew. It will remind us that we can all change, if we will it so.” She sighed, not allowing herself to catch Misty’s eye as she said so. “Most of all, this light will warm all our hearts, and remind us that united, we are strong.” The log was set in the mantle and Cordelia lifted a hand, reciting a blessing in Latin. “Ut nostrae tenebras et lucem tempore ponere finem , se animo semper.” The log was aglow and sparked to life, the girls behind her clapping as Cordelia turned slowly around, lighting a hundred or more candles around the room, lighting it up in a way that fit perfectly with the mood of the event. The glow went through the hall and around the corner, all the way through to the next house over. “Now, ladies, we’ll feast!”

 

As they began moving to the dining hall, which had also been decked to the nines, all the girls a chatter with the evening’s formalities, the doorbell rang. Grimacing, Cordelia was about to answer when Misty beat her to it, opening the door with a gasp, dropping her glass.   
  
Cordelia was about to comment on the shattered drink wear when she realized why her girlfriend was in such a state of shock as she came to the entryway and stared at the person on the porch.

 

“Happy Yule, ladies! I’m sorry for the tacky entrance — I was so hoping to pop down the chimney like the faux Saint Nicholas, but this is Valentino, darlings, and I could hardly stand the thought of it being marred in soot and ash. Then you went and lit the Yule log, and I figured I’ve faced the flame more than enough in my life — this face can’t handle another burn treatment.”

 

Cordelia was completely lost for words as she stared at a living, breathing Myrtle Snow, wearing a long, scarlet, vintage Valentino number, with ruffles all around the collar and sleeves, a pair of velvet gloves over her hands. A completely tacky, long stocking-like Santa cap clashed miserably with her crimped-out red hair, but she managed to make it work in a way that only she could.   
  
“Darlings, are you going to invite me in for the festivities, or shall we catch flies all evening? Come on now, I know that I may be playing the stereotypical aunt-late-for-Christmas here, but surely you could find it in your heart to forgive my tardy intrusion and allow me entrance? I’m assuming there’s the traditional roast duck and I could simply die for a plate of it — though that might have been an inappropriately timed quip, my apologies.”  
  
Cordelia’s lower lip trembled as she stepped forward and touched a hand to Myrtle’s cheek, feeling her skin, tight as ever, beneath her fingertips. Letting out a sob that she’d managed to hold back during her argument with Misty, she leaned forward and embraced the woman she’d considered her mother for two decades of her life. “Myrtle,” She managed to blubber, “What the hell is going on?”

 

Myrtle smiled and kissed her cheek, pulling away to stare at the daughter she’d never had. “My dear, there’s no Christmas miracle, tiny Tim story, I’m afraid this is all quite boring. It seemed that I had developed the power of resurgence. It was hardly a day after you’d burned me at the stake that I’d brought myself back.”

 

The Supreme squinted, confused — that had been nearly a year prior. “You’ve-you’ve been alive? All this time? Why, why did you stay away? Myrtle, I-I needed you—”

 

The red-haired woman adjusted her hat, raising a brow, looking at Misty, who continued to stand dumbfounded in the doorway. “Dear, perhaps your power of persuasion over the Supreme is stronger than mine. Is there any chance you can get her to allow me into the Academy? I’d like to explain this, but it’s getting a touch chilly out here, and I’m far too old to stand here with my teeth chattering away.”

 

“Yeah,” Misty said, shaking her head, touching the top of Cordelia’s arm. “Come on in, um...We were actually, just goin’ to the dinin’ hall for the feast, but—”

 

“It can wait,” Cordelia took a few steps backwards, away from Myrtle and her embrace. “Why didn’t you come back?” She demanded to know, feeling anger swelling up inside of her.   
  
She suddenly felt more abandoned than ever before. More so than Fiona dropping her off at the academy, more so than her visions of Hank cheating, more so than Misty’s second untimely death, more so than when Myrtle had asked to be burned herself. Knowing that the one woman who might have answers, insight, and unconditional love to shower her Supremacy in had been alive, but refused to come to her aid, was now the worst feeling that had ever settled into her bones. 

 

Misty closed the front door, sighing internally as she tried to determine if she should stay for the conversation. About to start the feast, Myrtle raised a hand, signaling her to remain. “My dear, dear darling Cordelia, I’ve been keeping an eye on you. You’ve been working so hard, so wonderfully, amazingly diligent at keeping this Coven together. You’ve put together the largest number of witches we’ve seen since Yule times past,” She sighed, bringing a hand up, but Cordelia brushed it away. “And you did it on your own,” Myrtle glanced at Misty, reaching for her hand, who allowed the oldest of the witches to take it.   
  
“With the help of your council, including it’s most important member. You’ve filled the biggest shoes you possibly could, those of a Supreme who’d left the Coven to rot. You not only filled those shoes, but you bought the whole damn collection! My dear, what you’ve accomplished in just a year as Supreme, I couldn’t be more proud. And you did it without me, or anyone else from generations before. You started anew, and brought fresh life to this once dying breed of exceptional women.”

 

Cordelia bit another sob, refusing to let out the resounding sound that she wanted to. Instead she waved her hand and froze time for a Misty and Myrtle, shaking her head. She lifted up the edge of her gown and ran in front of the fire that she’d lit, falling in front of it with the cry that she’d needed to let echo in the gathering room. 

 

Pulling her legs to her chest, she shook her head, wrapping her arms around them, using the back of her wrist to dab at her now wet cheeks.   
  
She cried for everything — for the stress of being the Supreme, for running the largest class the academy had ever known, for her mother; and the first real Yule she was celebrating without the woman on Earth, for Myrtle’s death and subsequent resurrection and abandonment, and for Misty and the baby that the woman longed to create with her. 

 

The tears seemed to be endless, and as Cordelia stared into the flames, she wondered if the feelings in the pit of her stomach would stay that way, too.  
  
She was nearly cried out, but not ready to return to the celebration she’d planned — there wasn’t a part of her left that wanted a party. A warm touch suddenly startled her, and before she knew it, Misty was on her right — having released the enchantment, sitting on her ankles, her lacy dress tucked under her. A palm on her left made her turn, and Myrtle was folding herself around her on the other side. The presence of the two women was too much, and again, Cordelia sobbed loudly. This time, though, she had the embrace of her lover and the woman who’d become her mother to hold her as she wept, despite the fact that the two of them were also the cause of her tears.

 

“I’m not ready,” She spilled out, managing to look up at Misty, “I’m not ready to have a baby, Misty. Please, I don’t want to do this now. I don’t want to argue over it, and I don’t want to think about it — I need more time. Please don’t be mad, but I don’t want to even talk about it until the spring equinox. Please?”

 

“Okay,” Misty nodded, leaning over to cradle the woman’s opposite cheek, “‘Delia, I won’t bring it up again, I promise,” She kissed her damp mouth, pressing their foreheads together for a moment. “I won’t bring it up until you’re ready to talk about it, I swear.”

 

“Thank you,” Cordelia uttered before looking over her other shoulder at Myrtle. “Myrtle, I don’t know what to say,” She whispered, “I’m so _fucking_ happy that you’re here. But I’m so mad at you for staying away. I know you thought you were helping, but I could have really used you.”

 

“But you didn’t need me,” Myrtle assured her. “I do understand your frustration, though, baby bird, truly I do. But I wanted you to fly on your own, darling, and you did and you did it so beautifully. And you may not feel that your nest is fully prepared, but my god, when you do, you’re going to have the most spectacular baby bird of your own, with this amazing songbird that has committed herself to you. You’ve done splendidly my dear, but now, I’m here for you. Whenever and however you’d like me to be.”

 

Cordelia reached both her hands up, clutching the two most important women who were now back in her life full time, wanting desperately to apologize to them, but not having the words to do so. Instead, she muttered, “Thank you,” Before closing her exhausted eyes and taking a break from feeling anything.

 


	2. Chapter Two

Hearing music roaring from beneath her, Cordelia sat up, blinking wearily as she took in her surroundings. She was in her bed, surrounded by blankets of white, though there was no woman at her side. Pouting she recalled the events that led to her being placed on her mattress and huffed, still completely overwhelmed by the Yule surprise of Myrtle. Glancing down, she took sight of a folded piece of paper. Unable to keep a mild grin suppressed at the sight of Misty’s sloppy scrawl, she read, “My Beautiful Lady — I mean it, I promise, this is the last I’ll mention the b-word until you’re ready. I’m sorry for pressuring you. I’ve just been thinking so much about how our lives might be with a little one. But I know you’re stressed with everything you do for this Coven, and I’m sure I don’t tell you often enough just how grateful I am, and we all are for everything you do. I’ve decided not to wake you — we led the feast, I’m sorry about that, but I didn’t want the girls getting all bent out of shape. When they’re gone tomorrow, you and I are going to have a feast of our own, and I’ll cook. I love you with all my heart, Cordelia.”

 

Sighing, she folded the note and tucked it into the drawer of her nightstand, where she had a collection of others like it. Stretching, she found herself still in her dress, hair having held up alright, despite the mild sleep. Touching up her eyeliner in the bathroom mirror, she deemed herself worthy of being able to rejoin her party, not wanting the girls to think she’d left them.

 

“Miss Cordelia!” A group of the youngest women of the Coven rallied at the base of the stairs, eight to ten year olds giggling and waving at her. “Dance with us!”   
  
“Alright,” She smiled as the tunes of Judy Garland’s 1954 Christmas special blaring over the speakers. Taking their hands, she spun the girls around, letting them shimmy and twirl all around her as teenagers and young women were gathering around them, all swaying and clapping with laughter and wide, seasonal grins. “ _Have yourself a merry little Christmas night,_ ” She sang to the sounds of the legend, laughing as she was attacked in a group hug as the song faded out. 

 

“Alright, this is far too slow,” Queenie stated as she took Cordelia’s phone from the spot along the mantle, changing the tune and everyone sang along to _Jingle Bell Rock_ , several of the teenagers performing slightly scandalous choreography that the Supreme knew came from a movie.   
  
Letting them dance how they wanted, Cordelia worked her way through the crowd, quietly interrupting Zoe and Kyle who were dancing a slow-dance, talking lowly despite the current song choice. “Have either of you seen Misty?” She wondered, biting her lip.

 

“She disappeared after dinner,” Zoe shrugged, “Literally, she used transmuation once the girls were all set out here. She didn’t say where she was headed. It was totally rad to see Myrtle, though. She said she had an urgent affair, then followed Misty out.” She twirled a hand up, demonstrating how the red headed woman would have. “I don’t know where they went off to, but I have a feeling they’re together, wherever that is.”

 

Having her suspicions, Cordelia thanked the couple and walked quietly down the hall and to the back door, finding Myrtle sitting on the porch with an arm wrapped around Misty. Concealing her presence, she bit the inside of her cheek and listened to the two women intently. 

 

“...I love her, more than anything or anyone on this planet, Myrtle. Really, I do. I can’t put into words how much I love her. And I know that she’s stressed and busy and tired, but I really thought that if she wanted to have a baby with me, that she’d be willing to see past all that. I thought that we could all work together to make this happen. And I know my potions are gonna work, I do. I’m just,” She heard a sniffle, “Really sad that she doesn’t want to do this with me.”

 

“Oh, sweet Misty Day, I don’t think it’s you, my dear. I think that part of it is the timing, but the other part is a bit of fear, on behalf of our lovely Supreme. I think that she’s been through more than she’s told you when it comes to conceiving a child, and that this is so buried inside her, that it might not be time for her to dig it all up and let it out. She’s guarded and careful. She’s been hurt, in the past, and I think that those feelings are blocking her from wanting to have a child at all. Perhaps, I could be wrong. But please, dear, don’t push her into it. You’ll just wind up pushing her from wanting to _ever_ have a baby. Let her work through these demons. I’m sure, when she’s ready, she’ll create a child from nothing but absolute love with you.”

 

She heard Misty scoff. “I love her, but sometimes I wish she’d practice what she preaches. She’s very good at getting me to open up and talk, but Jesus, it’s like tryin’ to rope a ‘gator gettin’ her to speak her mind about something.” There was a long sigh. “I really do love her. And there’s nothing I want more than to show that than by having a baby with her. And I’ll wait, I will. But it’s not gonna be easy.”

 

“Love never is, child. But...it’s always worth it. Now, go on, go on, go inside and enjoy this party. You aught to be dancing with your charges, not sitting out here spilling your guts to me. I’ll be here, I’ve no intention of going anywhere, should Cordelia permit me residence among you, of course. I’ll always be around to talk — but the Yule festivities are only one night a year. Go, go on now. Enjoy your night. I’m sure our beautiful Supreme will be rising soon, and ready to scoop you into her arms and take you for a spin.”

 

Cordelia zapped herself away from the door and back to the dance floor, tucking the conversation into the back of her mind for another time. 

 

A minute later, Misty was at the edge of the hallway, any sign of tears having been wiped away. Her curls were still pinned up, with a few having fallen loose, and the sight of her smile was enough to allow Cordelia to forgive the subtle bitterness that she’d built up over the night.

 

Crossing to her path, the Supreme took Misty’s hands, stroking her thumb over the gold band that she wore on her ring finger on her left hand. “Will you dance with me?”

 

Misty leaned her face forward, pressing a warm, tender kiss to the woman’s lips. “It’d be my honor.”

  
X  
  
Cordelia assisted in loading the last of the girls’ luggage onto the last bus that was taking them to the airpot. She was dressed down in a pair of thick, black cable-knit leggings and a long grey sweater, adorned with one of Misty’s many colorful scarves. Of one hundred eight residents, only her council and Madison would be in the respective houses over the break that the headmistress had given from December twenty-second to January fifteenth, hoping that three weeks would give the women and girls more than enough time to recharge and relax before hopping into almost six more months of class. 

 

She accepted her last few hugs, waving her girls goodbye, thankful that Zoe and Queenie had offered to take them to the airport or bus stop. Feeling a hundred pounds of pressure leave her shoulders as the load drove off, Cordelia tugged the sleeves of her sweater over her wrists and moved to the house, ready to collapse on her bed and not think about _anything_ for at least the first three days of vacation. 

 

About to enter the academy, Cordelia stood on the porch, sighing as she considered entering the home. The only three inside were Kyle, Misty, and Myrtle. Swallowing, she eyed the bench near the door, shrugging at the chilly sensation of the cool December morning. 

 

It wasn’t long before a redheaded witch joined her, a steaming mug in hand. “That Kyle boy is the most useful servant that this Coven has ever had, I’m quite certain. I’m very glad you kept him around.” 

 

“He’s not a servant,” Cordelia clarified. “He’s...” She paused, not sure what the young man’s title was. “He’s a friend. Of all of us. He’s happy to help us so that our Coven runs smoothly. He’s extremely handy in the kitchen.” Swallowing, she bit her lip, unable to meet Myrtle’s eyes, but accepting the tea she offered.   
  
There was a silent few beats and Cordelia opened and closed her mouth a few times before sighing loudly and taking a sip of her tea before admitting, “I don’t really know what to say to you.”

 

“You don’t have to say anything, dear. Sometimes, silence is golden. Imagine if the whole world were quiet for just a moment. All the hustle and bustle would just...stop. Imagine that, ‘Delia, my love.”

 

Cordelia could feel her eye twitching. “I always thought that my issues with...holding a grudge, had only extended to my mother — and that it was justified. But then, there was Hank. Now, I’m experiencing the same feelings of resentment with you. I’m sorry, Myrtle. Because I love you and I think that you really did have my best intentions in mind, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

 

Myrtle nodded, fully understanding. “I had a feeling that this wouldn’t be as easy as stepping into the foyer and hugging it out. I’d hoped, but...” She shrugged. “I know it will take some time to regain your trust, of that I have no doubt. And along the way, if there is anything I can do to help you—”

 

“If you’re going to be here, you’ll have to teach a few classes,” Cordelia stated firmly. “I’m quite insistent on that. Zoe, Queenie, Misty and I had our hands so full that I designated a few of the older second year girls to teach.”

 

“Of course, my darling, anything you need.”

 

Cordelia nodded, feeling a little burden chip off of her at the thought of having  at least four more classes covered by someone other than herself. More silence passed between them and Cordelia sipped at her tea. “I heard you talk to Misty about night. About my fertility struggles.” 

 

Myrtle closed her eyes and turned to look at her pseudo-daughter. “I quickly deduced that wasn’t something you’d spoken with her about, so I didn’t think it was my place to reveal more than I did.”

 

Nodding, the Supreme stared into her lap. “Misty...” She shook her head, “She got the idea of a baby in her head last spring, after her mom showed up here. We talked about the fact that we both had such terrible mothers, then she thought that I’d make a good mother, and I said the same...and since then, she’s been on a mission to find a way to take two eggs and make a baby. And, truthfully, I think she’s done it. But—”

 

“But, you’ve gone through such treatments already.”

 

Cordelia refused to cry again, but nodded. “Yeah,” She breathed. “I’ve already tried, and tried, and _tired_ to have a baby. And when it finally came crashing down that I wouldn’t, I guess...I accepted it. It wasn’t easy, at all. But I made peace with it. Now, I’m the Supreme and I have a whole host of responsibilities and people in my care that I didn’t when I was trying...and I don’t know that I even _want_ to have a baby anymore.” She reached an index finger up to swipe under her eye. “What do I tell Misty?”

 

“Probably exactly what you just told me,” Myrtle suggested, reaching for Cordelia’s hand. “I think that you aught to be honest with her. Right now, it’s almost like you’re stringing her along. Telling her you’ll talk about it after the spring — you’ve already made up your mind, dear. You’re just going to allow her hope to build over the next few months. You don’t want that, neither does she deserve it.”  
  
The Supreme let Myrtle squeeze her hand. She wanted to blurt out an apology and toss her arms around the older woman, but simply stated, “I suppose it’d make sense to reinstate you onto the council.”

 

“Oh, no, darling,” The redhead smiled and moved her palm to smooth down Cordelia’s hair. “You’re the new Supreme, in a new age for witches. It’s best that you keep witches of this generation on there for you. I’ll be here, little dove, but perhaps in just a teaching or care taking capacity.” 

  
Nodding, Cordelia stood, “I’m going to find Misty. We were going to have dinner tonight, just the two of us, but —”

 

“Don’t let me interrupt you, then.” Myrtle rose as well, pressing a gentle kiss to the woman’s temple. “You’ve found someone worthy of your love. Make sure you express that in all the right ways, including a special Yule feast for just the two of you. Also, I’ve eaten that woman’s cooking and I’m not so sure I could sit through that once again. Good luck, dear. Do take a roll of Tums to the table with you.”

 

Trying not to laugh at the sad truth of her girlfriend’s culinary abilities, Cordelia sucked up a smile, knowing she could suffer through one of Misty’s meals if it made the girl happy.

 

X

  
Misty had banished Cordelia from assisting in the kitchen the entire afternoon. Instead of fretting over burning sauce or overcooking pasta, the Supreme had taken solace in their bedroom with a book she’d been wanting to read for pleasure, nothing to do with witchcraft or work, for well over a year. She soared through the pages, finishing an entire novel in under two hours, feeling freer than she had since before Zoe had moved into the academy the fall previous. She downloaded a few apps on her phone, went online shopping for herself and her girlfriend, then watched a documentary on her long-neglected Netflix queue.   
  
The older witch was completely at peace as she sorted through her closet, listening to music from the record player in the main portion of her bedroom. She tossed old tops and skirts she hadn’t worn during her reign as Supreme into a basket, knowing that if she hadn’t put them on in a year, there was little chance they would be used again. Shifting dresses around and creating space for the shopping cart full of items she’d just ordered, Cordelia eyed her jewelry cabinet, which stood tall next to her shelf of shoes — all neatly aligned in labeled boxes. Opening the top drawer, she slid out a box that held a few pieces of jewelry that she’d not worn recently, but had been unable to part with.   
  
Picking up a silver band with a diamond in the middle, she sighed, letting her former wedding ring rest in her palm. She stared at it, intently, as if willing the piece of metal to give her an answer as to what to do with it.  
  
“Y’know,” A voice startled her and the Supreme dropped the ring as she stood, clutching her heart. Misty picked up her former husband’s gift to her, eyeing the diamonds. “I wouldn’t be upset if you kept it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

 

Cordelia blinked, “You wouldn’t?”

 

“Nah,” Misty shrugged, fingering the diamonds. “You were married for five years. It was a big part of your life. You don’t just toss that away — you learned a lot and grew in that time. If you wanna keep the ring, keep it.”

 

“I just,” She sighed, her shoulders heaving, “Didn’t ever really know what to do with it. I wanted to throw it at Hank and hope that it’d scratch him in the face — but the opportunity never really presented itself. Then he died, and any spiteful actions I wanted to take with it just felt...bland. So I tucked it in here with a bracelet that Fiona had given me for graduation, and a necklace from an old friend of mine,” She shook her head. “It doesn’t really hold any value to me — none of this does. If I ever think about it, I could take them downtown and sell them, I guess.”

 

Misty’s eyes lit up. “That pawn shop on Burbank? They’ve got some really old, original recordings of —”

 

Cordelia pressed the ring back into her girlfriend’s hand. “Get what you want with it, when you get a chance.” She reached into the box for the other two gold items, “There. Now I can stop thinking about it. Thanks, Mist.”

 

“No problem,” The girl giggled, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to her girlfriend’s lips, noting the basket of clothes behind her. “You movin’ out on me or what?”

 

“Just cleaning out some things I haven’t worn all year — I may or may not have gone on an online binge shop while you were busy.”

 

Misty laughed again, pulling Cordelia in for a hug. “Well, I just came to tell you that dinner’ll be ready in about ten minutes. And that you look damn sexy in them leggings and I think that’s all you’re allowed to wear outside of this room for the whole break.”   
  
Cordelia flushed and chuckled herself, hugging Misty back, feeling like for a moment, there wasn’t tension between them. “I love you,” She reminded her girlfriend, squeezing her tight.

 

“Love you too, darlin’.” Misty pulled away, popping the soon-to-be-pawned jewelry into the front pocket of her purse that was strewn over a wooden trunk full of her shoes and boots on her side of the closet. “Maybe I love you enough that I could be bothered with cleanin’ all this up tomorrow.”  
  
The Supreme put a hand over her heart and looked up to the heavens. “A true Christmas miracle. Thank you,” She sent a kiss up to the ceiling and Misty laughed, nearly tripping out the door as she hurried to get back to finishing up her dinner for Cordelia.   
  
She joined her girlfriend, who was muttering something to Kyle and Myrtle, who Cordelia saw trying to sneak out of the kitchen as she arrived. Misty looked caught, but simply shrugged. “They might’a helped. I didn’t wanna kill you.”

 

The older witch strode to the neatly set table for two, reaching for Misty’s hand and nodding at her little helpers, thanking them with a look. “I’m sorry last night didn’t go quite how you wanted it to,” the younger woman began, kneeling next to Cordelia with a sincere expression. “I never wanted to upset you. I love you too much to intentionally do anything that might jeopardize that.”  
  
“You know?” Cordelia grinned, stroking a thumb over Misty’s knuckles. “I still got my dance with you. And I appreciated you helping me out of my dress at the end of the night.”   
  
Misty leaned up and forward to capture her lover’s kiss. “I’ll always be there to help you with that if you need it,” She winked.   
  
Standing, Misty took her seat next to Cordelia’s, lifting the tops off their plates. The Supreme’s eyes widened in genuine surprise, realizing that Myrtle had definitely had a hand in assisting the necromancer. Still, she appreciated Misty’s effort. “This looks amazing. Thank you for our own little feast, Misty.”

 

The curly haired witch grinned, taking Cordelia’s hand for a blessing. She poured Cordelia a glass of red wine when it was through, lifting her stem and the Supreme did the same. “A toast to a year of finding balance, and keeping the love alive.”

 

Cordelia was grateful for the sentiment, gently clinking the glasses together. “Sorry ‘bout breaking a glass last night,” Misty remarked sheepishly as they both took a sip and dove into the meal.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing this Coven isn’t used to. There’s a reason I bought this set of stemware from IKEA. In grosses.”

 

Snickering, Misty sneaked a hand under the table to squeeze her girlfriend’s knee. “I really love the leggings.”

 

“If you’ve made it to the nice list this year, perhaps you can get me out of them — oh, shit,” Cordelia blinked, staring off in the distance while Misty clapped her hands and laughed, trying not to choke on her food. “Those words really just came out of my mouth.”

 

When she finished her giggle fit and swallowed, Misty turned in her chair, her eyelids low. “I like it when you flirt with me.”

 

“Well, it doesn’t take much to persuade you,” The Supreme stated to her girlfriend. “I was thinking that maybe this evening I could persuade you to take a long, hot bath with me?”

 

Misty was nearly falling out of her seat — it was the little conversations and moments like this with Cordelia that made loving the often uptight Supreme ridiculously fun. “Now you’re going to have to persuade me to eat like a civilized person instead of shovelin’ this all in my mouth so I can drag you up there with me.”

 

Cordelia took a slow bite, teasing her minx of a girlfriend before taking another sip of her wine, purposefully licking her lips afterwords. Misty was all but growling next to her, all focus on eating lost. The older witch managed to turn back to her plate, though her heart was racing. “You can’t spend an evening like you want to on an empty stomach.”   
  
“Fine,” Misty sat up straight and lifted her fork again, turning to work on her dinner.   
  
The tension between the two of them could have been sliced with Fiona’s dagger and thankfully they managed to stay focused long enough to finish — far too quickly, that Cordelia took the bottle of wine and her glass, nodding to the stairs, wordlessly.   
  
“Dinner and desert,” Misty was nearly wolfish as she was hot on her girlfriend's heels when they stepped into their suite, locking the door with magic. “As much as I want to tear them leggings off you right now, let’s enjoy our second night of Yule right.”

 

Cordelia agreed, using telekinesis to slide an end table into the bathroom, setting the wine and her glass on top, Misty following suit before opening a wooden cabinet, revealing neatly (obsessively) arranged jars of bath salts, potions, and petals. Tapping her chin, she felt her body ease into relaxation when Cordelia turned the water in their large bathtub on. Arms wrapped around her middle and lips settled on her neck, making Misty moan and stretch back to cup Cordelia’s head against her. Kisses were peppering her bare shoulder blade as Cordelia subtly shifted the witch out of her cardigan and mumbled, “Thanks again for dinner, sweetheart. I do appreciate it.”

 

Misty leaned into her, closing her eyes. “I know you do, baby — don’t you worry, I’m not upset that we rushed through it, not one bit...What do you prefer tonight, hm? Rose or Lavender?”

 

“Rose,” The Supreme stated and Misty reached forward for two jars — one of an oil and the other of petals. Cordelia assisted her and dropped in two dozen of the petals while the younger witch gave a generous amount of the liquid, which started to bubble up immediately, filling the room with a smell that brought both women together in a long kiss.   
  
Misty nipped at Cordelia’s bottom lip while simultaneously bringing up one of the Supreme’s legs, tucking it over her hip, squeezing her backside through the skin-tight pants. “You’re required to wear pants from now on, ma’am,” Misty stated and Cordelia laughed into their kiss, her arms hooked around her neck for support as she began grinding into the hold. 

 

“Is that an order?”

 

“Absolutely,” Misty declared. “Tight pants, of course. I wanna see your ass every time you walk in front of me or bend over.”

 

“Misty,” Cordelia chuckled again, taking her turn to bite at her lover, sucking on her lip before forcing her tongue into her mouth, pulling away with a tiny noise as she remembered the water was still running. “You’re so distracting.”

 

“Not often enough, I’m afraid,” Misty purred, the seconds away being too long as she tugged Cordelia by the hips. “I don’t think we’ve had a bath together since the Samhain — and that’s a damn shame.”

 

“Balance,” Cordelia reminded her, about to slide away long enough to undress.

 

“Oh, if you think that I’m about to let you take that off yourself...” Misty started by unwinding her light blue scarf that had been tied around Cordelia’s neck, her breath already ragged as she thought about undressing the woman fully. She peeled off the grey sweater next, tossing it in a pile, leaving Cordelia in a black, lace bra and same colored leggings. Her girlfriend had to remember to close her mouth at the sight. Running a hand over her side, leaving goosebumps, Misty pressed a kiss between Cordelia’s breasts before unhooking her bra and shucking her own top and bottoms in an instant.   
  
The Supreme pouted, gripping Misty’s hand before she could pull off her own underwear. “I don’t think so,” Her face turned to a grin. She kissed Misty’s lips hard, then trailed her mouth down in hot, open-mouthed kisses before she was kneeling just in front of Misty, thumbs at the edges of lace, pulling them down slowly, tracing nails back up between her thighs, pulling away just in time to say, “Water’s going to get cold,” And turn around, removing her leggings and panties in one move, before Misty even had a chance to argue, and stepping into the water. 

 

Mouth agape, Misty stood in front of the edge of the tub as Cordelia sighed and reached for her wine glass, closing her eyes with a contented smirk as she leaned back against the rim, popping one eye open to question, “Are you joining me?”

 

“Miss Cordelia Goode,” The younger witch stated, splashing one foot into the water, “I cannot believe,” She added the other, not caring as she sloshed a bit of their bubbles over the edge, stopping right in front of Cordelia’s face, “You just did that.”

 

“Did what?” Cordelia took a sip, all games now as she tried and failed to keep a straight face, the tips of her hair growing dark as they became wet. 

 

“No way, Miss Cordelia,” Misty straddled her and shook her head. “You’re an’insufferable tease. You’ve wound up on the naughty list, for sure, young lady.”

 

“Oh no,” The older witch downed her wine and sat up, bringing Misty with her to pour another glass, then one for her girlfriend, who took it greedily. “Do I get punished on the naughty list?”

 

“Yes, you do,” Misty stated with blurry, lust filled eyes as she sipped at the red liquid, licking her lips before setting the glass back down and reaching to take Cordelia’s face in her hand by the chin, licking her lips before cupping the back of her wet hair, sighing into the kiss. Cordelia placed her glass on the table before reaching a bubbly hand to take one of Misty’s breasts beneath the water. The action caused the taller blonde to drop her mouth in a moan and the Supreme took the upper hand to press her back against the opposite side of the tub, dominating the interaction.   
  
“‘Delia,” Misty pulled away, pupils dilated, “Baby, I know I been talkin’ a lota talk, but, please,” She breathed out, her chest heaving. “I want you to fuck me. I need ya,”

 

“Mm,” Cordelia slid a knee between her girlfriend’s legs, making her eyes snap shut as she groaned out nonsense. “Do you? When did this need start, Miss Day?”

 

“Oh,” She groaned as the Supreme pinched a nipple, massaging the breast in a way that made Misty lean forward against her. “I...I suppose, last night — when I first saw you, oh, ‘Delia...in that damn sexy dress — your hair all curly and loose...I just...wanted to run my fingers through it and bunch up the velvet so I could take you in it...”

 

“Tell me more,” Cordelia insisted, “I need to know just how long this has been going on for, Miss Day.” She applied her teeth to the younger woman’s collar bone and Misty whimpered before forcing herself to explain.

 

“You came down those stairs, and I was real mad at’cha, but...Jesus Christ—”

 

“—He’s got no place in this room right now, Misty—”

 

“—You, oh, you looked so fucking gorgeous walking down those stairs, I didn’t care that I was pissed or that we were in a room full of children, I wanted to pound ya’gainst the banister. And then...well, everything happened, but ‘fore I knew it, you were tellin’ me to dance with’ya...and all hell broke loose in my mind and my heart and I was soakin’ beneath my lace dress ‘cause you were pressed against me everywhere and holding me and twirling me in ways you’d never done before,” She sighed dreamily as Cordelia’s mouth covered her own again, she opened her dark eyes to meet the Supreme’s. “You were a sight, a beautiful, angelic sight and I felt absolutely blessed to be the only one in the room that you wanted to touch or dance with.”   
  
Taking a serious moment, Cordelia pecked her lips sweetly, reminding her, “You’ll always be the only one I want to touch and dance with, no matter what happens,” She referred to their argument and the unexpected appearance of Myrtle Snow. “Let me remind you,” She smiled into another kiss, “That you’re the only one I want to touch and be with.”

 

Misty felt two fingers slide down her front and to her center, entering her with the pressure of the water adding to the feelings she craved. She groaned and Cordelia was the dominant tease once again as she motioned up a bit, covering Misty’s breast with her mouth, sucking and biting at her while keeping her hand rocking inside of her. The curly haired witch sighed her name and tossed her head back, forcing Cordelia’s lips from her breast to her exposed throat, kissing and nipping,   
  
The Supreme was moving them back, and suddenly Misty was up out of the water, her back to the cool tile, making her hiss while her knees were bent over the edge of the rim. Cordelia pumped her fingers and in out still, with an increased pace, and her mouth moved between her legs as well, making Misty cry out loudly and tangle her fingers in the woman’s wet hair. “‘Delia, ‘Delia,” She groaned her name as Cordelia sucked on her sensitive clit. Misty brought one hand up to clutch her breast, trying to catch her breath as she started to feel numb everywhere — wondering how she’d managed to lose control of their love making so quickly, but certainly not minding as she struggled to keep still in the slippery position of the bathtub.   
  
Cordelia dipped her tongue inside Misty and it was enough to set the hypersensitive woman over the edge of an orgasm in hardly three minutes, her legs shaking as she let out a loud cry of a moan, letting Cordelia ease her down so her muscles weren’t holding her up in her now blissful, numb state. 

 

Smiling against her lover’s wet skin, Cordelia tried to continue to rub between Misty’s thighs under the water, but the witch caught her fingers, shaking her head as she kissed her girlfriend’s lips repeatedly, pushing her towards the back of tub, sighing long and loud. They laid longways, Cordelia relishing in her dominance and Misty happy to let her as she came down from her climax.   
  
Cordelia reached for the wine bottle, forgoing glasses, and brought it to her lips, sipping from the glass before passing it to Misty, who took the last bit, her whole body feeling the effects, laced with the pleasure she’d just been given.   
  
The older witch used her power to remove the bottle from their presence, leaning back against the back of the tub, adjusting Misty so she was straddling her, their chests touching as bubbles and rose petals floated around them. She kissed the top of her girlfriend’s hair, starting to feel the reflection part of the second day of Yule creep in. After _that_ , and dinner — she didn’t want to confess to Misty what Myrtle had encouraged her to earlier. Why ruin an absolutely wonderful night?

 

Misty stroked a breast, wondering, “What are you thinkin’bout, Miss Supreme?”

 

“You,” Cordelia confessed, kissing her hand as she caught it, before bringing it into the water and dipping it beneath her breast and between her legs. Misty took the hint and was easily distracted from the real thoughts in her girlfriend’s head as she focused her attention on bringing her to the same euphoric state that she’d just achieved.   
  
X

 

Cordelia rolled a whiteboard from her office to the gathering room, where her council plus Myrtle were seated. She had been up long before any of the other women on December twenty-third, hoping to knock out a quick bought of work so they could enjoy the Yule-Christmas-New Year celebrations without thinking about it. Misty was on the floor, her legs crossed in front of her when the Supreme had stepped into the room. She fell backwards against Queenie’s legs when she caught sight of Cordelia — in a long, button-down, billowy black top with grey leggings and tall black boots, her hair in a ponytail and glasses perched on her face. “Holy shit, ‘Delia,” She breathed.

 

“What?” The older witch asked seriously, taken aback as she dropped a dry-erase marker. 

 

Misty blinked, shaking her head. “‘M sorry, I,” Her face was flushed and she sat up. “Leggings,” She muttered.   
  
Cordelia took her turn to blush and bit her lip as Queenie and Zoe laughed. “Anyway, thank you for sacrificing one morning of break for this — I know, I know, it’s grueling but we’ve got to sort out the courses for the winter semester. The fall went well, but with Myrtle here to be our teaching partner, I think we’ll all be a bit relieved. And, despite my hesitation to do so, I’m also allowing Madison to take one of my courses — the young pyrokenetics. Lord help us all.”

 

Queenie was about to make a rude comment but Misty beat her to defending their former classmate. “Madi’s doin’ alright. Leave her alone.”

 

The larger witch raised a brow. “She _killed_ you.”

 

“I’ve moved past that,” Misty crossed her arms and leaned back, nodding to Cordelia. “I think it’s a great idea.”

 

“It was _your_ idea,” The Supreme tried to hide a grin and held up a hand to prevent Queenie or Zoe from arguing, “But I’m willing to give it a try. According to the girls who were in her group last week, during my half day off, she did well. When I talked to her afterwords, she said it was almost fun. I think that giving Madison a chance to step up might surprise us all.”

 

Queenie shook her head. “I usually say Supreme knows best, but I’m not sure on this one.”

 

“Well, deal with it,” Misty snapped, frowning, folding her arms over her chest; secretly knowing why she felt so suddenly defensive of the former Hollywood Starlet.   
  
“Moving on,” Cordelia stated with authority, clearing her throat and writing _Madison — Pyro._ on the board in hasty, yet delicate script. “Myrtle, what would you feel most comfortable teaching?”

 

The oldest witch in the Coven gave a single shrug. “I’m fairly handy with divination, and of course, history. But it’s up to you darling, wherever it is you need me.” 

 

“I haven’t had a class on divination yet, so that’ll work; a basic and senior class, maybe? I think we could all use it, to be quite honest, but I’ll make it an elective for older girls, then require the juniors to all take a dabble in it.”  
  
The next hour continued much the same way, divvying up responsibilities and classes, leaving the whiteboard a mess, but Cordelia’s head exceptionally clear as she realized, she’d only have two classes of her own, three days of the week. She could have cried looking at the notes. “How is this possible?” She muttered, staring at the scribbles. “I must be forgetting something.”

 

Myrtle had gone to the kitchen to prepare a brunch for the women, while Zoe and Queenie went to the office to organize materials into stacks for who would need what for teaching the new courses. In the meantime, Misty wound her arms around Cordelia’s middle, peppering a kiss on her shoulder. “Forgetting to relax, maybe. I think this is what it’s supposed to be like, for you. You’ve delegated, sharing the responsibilities for all this. I think this is a big step for you. You’re gonna be a lot happier.”

 

Cordelia leaned her weight back a little, holding Misty’s hands beneath her own. “I’ll finally be able to be assessing and pulling girls for privates like I originally intended before we wound up with so many here last winter.”

 

Nuzzling her nose into the Supreme’s hair, Misty muttered, “Finding _balance_.”  
  
Smiling, Cordelia turned so she could kiss her girlfriend’s mouth. “I’m excited for you to take on advanced potions and healing. You’re going to have your own little healing center before you know it — we might have to construct a new building just for you in the backyard.”

 

Flushing, Misty grinned widely. “We’re on to something here, ‘Delia. Something bigger than us — this Coven, it’s growin’, and not just by numbers. We’re going to change things, for the world, for the better. I can feel it.” Hugging her, Cordelia groaned at the contact, closing her eyes and letting out a squeak when Misty’s hand dipped below her waist and over her backside. “I just fucking love you in leggings.”  
  
“I thought you might,” The Supreme stepped back, jutting her hip to the side. “How’s this?”   
  
“Hot. Too hot. I wanna take pictures of you in ‘em and wallpaper the greenhouse.” 

 

Shaking her head, her ponytail whipping, her girlfriend took the edge of the dry erase board, nodding Misty to the office.  
  
There was a stack of books and articles littering her desk, making Cordelia’s heart skip a beat at the chaos all around her, on chairs and shelves as the two youngest members of her council sorted through supplies. Closing her eyes and forcing herself to let them take care of the task for her, the Supreme cleared off her seat and pulled up her computer, creating a schedule and assigning her mostly competent staff to it, then using an algorithm she’d rigged for herself, had the girls placed into their courses in the click of an Excel button. “I can appreciate the hard work and dedication to the natural life that our ancestors had,” She started, printing out the first copy on legal paper, “But I’m very happy to be a witch of the twenty-first century.”

 

“I mean, it ain’t too different,” Misty teased, “You can watch a Stevie video on your cellphone and still live in constant wondering if you’re gonna be burned at the stake today. What a wonder it is to be a witch in our time.”   
  
Cordelia laughed and handed her a stack of hot-off-the-press schedules, asking her to post them in the designated areas. Complying, Misty ambled through the main house singing — her ankle length, black gypsy skirt swishing around her, hair bouncing as she moved. Taking out the old class schedules from their plexi-glass compartments, Misty swapped them for the present ones, lost in thought and song.   
  
“What’re you doing?” A puff of smoke was blown her way and the witch turned to raise an irritated brow. In the _sorority house_ , as she and Cordelia jokingly called the hall for late teens and those in their early twenties, smoking was allowed in certain locations. But the entryway to the study hall was not one of them. 

 

“What’d I tell you ‘bout blowin’ that shit in my face?” She questioned Madison, who stood lazily in a pair of tiny workout shorts and a sports bra, her hair up and damp with perspiration. “If you wanna poison your lungs, fine by me. But I don’t need that in my respiratory system.”   
  
“Big words,” She sighed, leaning back against the wall and making a tiny hole with her lips on the side of her mouth, blowing away from Misty. “Better?”

 

“Yeah, thanks,” The older of the two of them rolled her eyes. “I’m hangin’ the new schedule. Came to let you know that you’ve got the little pyromaniacs.”

 

“Really?” Madison’s eyes widened and a genuine smile graced her face for a split second before she shrugged. “I figured Cordy wouldn’t say no to the help. But...thanks.” She pressed a gentle hand to Misty’s upper arm and followed the necromancer as she made made way to the upstairs, unlocking bedroom doors with a wave of her wrist and replacing the schedules on each of the information boards.   
  
“Any luck with convincing your woman that you want to knock her up sooner than you’d originally intended?” Madison wondered as they arrived at her room — she’d managed to convince Cordelia that she wasn’t fit to share with another human being. Cordelia felt it was probably for the best. Sticking her cigarette in the ash tray, she observed Misty tensing. “I’ll take that as a no.”

 

“It’s...She’s really shuttin’ down on me about the subject. Won’t let me even mention the _word_ baby. I’m...feelin’ really discouraged, to be frank.”

 

Madison sprawled out on her bed, pulling her hair from it’s tie, shrugging. “I don’t know why you want an infant so bad anyway. They can’t do literally anything. What’s the point?”   
  
Misty gave a dry chuckle as she took a seat next to the former starlet and pouted. “Cordelia and I grew up with really shitty families. I love her, you know that. I know that she loves me, even if she’s confused about her feelings on the baby. I just — we’ve got so much to give, and I feel like bringin’ a baby into the world would bring us closer and give us somewhere to funnel all that love we have for one another. I know that I’ve still got lots to learn about bein’ a witch, but if there’s something I think I’m ready for, it’s bein’ somebody’s mama. And Cordelia,” She grinned, hugging her papers to her chest, “She’s gonna be the best damn mama. The absolute best.”

 

Trying not to roll her eyes, the smaller witch laid down, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t get it. She was fucking _desperate_ to have a baby with Hank. Why the hell wouldn’t she jump on that with you?”

 

The older woman raised a brow. “What’re you talking about?”

 

Madison sat back up, a quizzical smirk on her face. “Oh, shit...Cordy’s never told you? Girl...Cordelia tried every goddamn fertility treatment known to man, and probably witch to get pregnant. Man she wanted his spawn more than literally _anything_. She spent tons of money trying to get knocked up. Shit, I can’t believe that she didn’t tell you. Oh well. Cat’s out of the bag now. You’re welcome.”

 

“Why...” Misty stared hard at the floor, then to Madison with frustrated, shining eyes. “Why wouldn’t she tell me that?”

 

“It’s Cordelia. Why does she do half the shit she does?” Madison shrugged, standing to gather a set of clothes to change into after a shower. “Maybe she thinks she’s still infertile. But that’s not possible — she’s the Supreme now. Perfect health. Her eggs are probably better than either of ours, and she’s got ten years on me. Anyway,” She paused in the doorway, tilting her head. “Thanks for getting me a class. I owe you.”

 

“I think you just paid it off,” Misty mumbled, using transmutation to take herself to the greenhouse.


	3. Chapter Three

“Good afternoon,” Cordelia found and greeted her girlfriend a few hours later. “How come you didn’t come to lunch?”  
  
Misty was busy — journals with notes were littered around the main workstation of the greenhouse, potions and plants askew on the countertop. Her hair was pulled up off her neck in a high bun, most uncharacteristic of the witch. Her feather extensions were with her shawl and necklaces on a stool, her boots in a heap next to it, leaving her only in a tight tank top and flowing skirt.   
  
She glanced up, squinting as she noticed the time; quarter past one. “Guess I lost track’a time. Sorry ‘bout it,” She mumbled, scribbling out a note on the coloration of a particular potion. 

 

The Supreme rarely experienced passive aggression from the witch — as someone who dealt out the frustration strategy almost as often as magic tips, she felt surprisingly unprepared to deal with it on a receiving end. Opening and closing her mouth, she swallowed any snappy retort and decided to ask instead, “Can I bring you anything?”

 

Misty paused, blinking as she considered how far to take her feelings of mistrust. “I guess...tea, if you don’t mind?”

 

“Sure,” Cordelia disappeared and returned a few minutes later with a hot mug, setting it down. 

 

“Thanks,” The younger witch nodded and bit the inside of her cheek. 

 

An awkward beat passed between them and Cordelia sighed and shrugged. “Well, if you want my help with anything, let me know, otherwise I’ll be in my office. I was thinking — do you want to go out for dinner somewhere?”

 

Misty usually perked up at the thought of a date, but she was still uncomfortably stiff.   


“I need to ask you something, but I know it’s gonna make you mad,” She said honestly, changing the topic quickly. 

 

Cordelia sucked in a breath, coming to stand directly in front of Misty. “Okay, well...” She pressed her lips together and reached her hands out for her girlfriend’s waist. “I can’t promise I won’t be mad, but I’ll do my best to be reasonable.”

 

Picking at the dirt under her nails from several hours of working with plant matter, the younger witch nodded. She didn’t want to get angry and wind up knocking over something as a result. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this here?”

 

Agreeing, the Supreme suggested they head to their room, where she sat herself down on the love seat, patient. 

 

Misty paced in front of the empty fireplace, swallowing hard a few times before blurting out her question. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about your fertility problems when you were with Hank?”

  
Completely caught off guard, Cordelia blinked and sat still, Misty pulling a palm to her forehead and crumpling into the space next to her, wanting to blubber out a thousand apologies. Before she could even get one out though, the Supreme wanted to know, “How did you find out about that?”

 

Misty couldn’t bring her gaze past her hands, her fingers twirling together. “Madison told me.”

 

The older witch was confused and clearly flustered, not ready to answer the question, but rather finding the need to spin the situation so she had the upper hand. “Since when is Madison your best friend and confidant?”

 

Not sure she liked the tone, her curly haired girlfriend brought her eyes up to shoot her a look. “Madi’s workin’ on herself. She wants to do better. She’s genuine. You’re the Supreme, you aught to know that. ‘Sides, that doesn’t answer the question; why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“She had no business bringing that up,” Cordelia mumbled, crossing her arms.

 

“Okay, maybe not, but it’s too late. She already did, and now I know. So, please?”

 

“Because that’s over now,” The older witch stared hard at the rug while Misty paced the floorboards, her arms crossed as she waited for more. 

 

“That’s it? It never happened?” Her girlfriend brought a thumb up to bite the nail for a second as she stood in front of Cordelia, letting out a tisk as her tongue hit the roof of her mouth. “Right. You’re a damn hypocrite, ‘Delia.”

 

Raising her gaze, the shorter of the two squinted — biting back a really rude comment. “What does that mean?”

 

“It means, you make me talk about things that were painful for me — tell me not to forget them because they’re part of my story and part of what I went through; but when it happens to you — it’s like it didn’t happen. Did you take a damn memory potion?”

 

“No,” She nearly shouted, drawing her legs up to her chest, resting her chin between her knees, the ponytail in her hair falling over a shoulder. “Damnit, Misty. If I thought it was relevant, I’d have told you. You know I don’t really like to talk about Hank. He was worthless and I’m ashamed of my relationship with him. I don’t want to think of anything associated with him. Including my struggle with fertility.”

 

Misty sat down next to her, assuming a similar pose. “But what about it?” She needed to know. “I think that whatever happened then? It’s holding you back. Maybe if you tell me about it—”

 

“It doesn’t matter!” Cordelia said sharply, letting her knees drop and setting her jaw square. “I’m the Supreme now. I’m perfectly capable of having children. _You_ said you were going to stop bringing it up!”

 

“I was,” Misty snapped, her eyes welling up with tears. “Till I found out you hadn’t been tellin’ me the whole truth! Please, just...explain it to me, okay? Maybe it’ll help me understand why this is so hard for you. ‘Cause I’m feeling quite put out about all of it, to be honest.”

 

Standing, the Supreme crossed the floor until she reached the desk in the room, which they rarely used. Opening the bottom drawer, she removed a stack of books and paper until she reached a false bottom. Flipping the wood out, she removed a stack of journals, putting them on the love seat next to Misty. “You want to know all about my fertility and former sex life? There’s five years of my failed marriage. Read all about it.”  
  
“Why are you acting like this?” Misty gestured to the private thoughts of her girlfriend, “Why can’t you just answer my question?”

 

“Why are you talking to Madison, of all people, about our intimacy issues?”   
  
“ _Issues_?” The room was flaring up and Misty stamped her foot against the wood. “Damnit, ‘Delia, we don’t have i _ntimacy issues_! And so what if I talked to Madison about sex and intimacy sometimes, at least I talked to someone about it! You just keep clamin’ up whenever I mention a baby, and now I have a reasonable explanation as to why, though it wasn’t from you!”   
  
Cordelia ran a flustered hand through her hair, trying to me a mature adult, but feeling all her composure tossed out the wind. She wanted to scream and shout, but considered against it, instead she passively tossed the blame back to the one who’d started the conversation with the preface that she’d be angry. She was. “Why don’t you go ask Madison why I block things out? Maybe she’s got an answer for you.” About to transmutate out of the room, she was prevented from doing so by a firm grasp to her wrist by Misty, who stood and gripped her waist with a ferocity she’d never seen from the woman outside of occasionally kinky sex. 

 

“Don’t you dare,” She breathed as she shoved her mouth against Cordelia’s. The Supreme responded to the angry kiss by placing her palms on Misty’s upper arms, squeezing into a cry. She pulled away from the kiss to lower her forehead to her lover’s shoulder, letting out a sob while Misty eased her grip and shifted a hand from her hip to cradle the back of her head, sighing and pressing her body comfortably close. “I’m sorry,” She sighed, knowing that it was for naught. “I just wanted someone to talk things out with, about a month and a half ago. I knew that Madison had plenty of sexual experience with guys and wasn’t going to blab to you if I wanted someone to talk to privately. I just — I never had a sexual relationship before you. And I love our relationship, I really, really do. God, I love it. But sometimes, I just...need advice.   
  
“She seemed so miserable when she first came back to us in the fall. One day she showed up in the greenhouse while I was workin’ on the fertility potion. She just wanted somewhere quiet, just to _be_. She started comin’ every day ‘round the same time. We started casually talkin’, about anything and everything. One day, I ‘fessed up as to what I was making. I hadn’t told anyone, not at that point. She was kinda excited for me...us, I guess. Thought it was really cool that I loved you so much that I wanted to invent a way to put a baby in you. We started talking more and more, about a lot more intimate stuff. She talked about the gang rape — that night she flipped the bus? I guess we had more in common than I thought.”

 

“When did my fertility come up?” The Supreme wondered as she stayed tight in Misty’s hold, really hearing her despite her emotional state. 

 

“This morning. She knew that I was gonna try’n convince you to have a baby sooner than we’d originally talked about. Asked me how it went. Then she told me ‘bout how you tried everything, and nothing ever took. I’m so sorry, ‘Delia. I just wish you’d’a told me the real reason ‘bout why you’re so nervous to do this.”

 

Cordelia shrugged. “Nothing I said as a reason was a lie. I _do_ want to spend more time with just you. I _do_ want to have my life more balanced.”

 

Misty kissed the top of Cordelia’s head. “But you also don’t know if you _want_ to try for a baby right now. Are you scared?”

 

“I guess...hesitant. I tried so hard, for so long,” She sniffed, pulling away from Misty’s embrace to reach her journals, putting them in her girlfriend’s hands. “I mean it, I can’t really talk about all the things I was feeling then. I don’t feel them now. I don’t have those words anymore. But they’re here. The disappointment and heartbreak, it’s all here. I’m sorry,” Cordelia sighed, forcing herself to be done crying.   
  
The younger witch pulled her down so they were sitting together once more. “I know I promised no more baby talk. But, can we sort through what happened to you before?”

 

Cordelia bit her lip and eyed the journals. “Read them first. Then we’ll talk.”

 

“Okay,” Misty promised, and the two women sighed mutually, giggling awkwardly at the end of the fight and both mumbling an, “I’m sorry,” at the same time before Misty hooked an arm around the back of Cordelia’s neck and pulled her over to rest her face against her chest. “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too,” The older witch responded, hugging Misty’s middle. “We will talk about it, I promise. No holding back. Not anymore.”

 

Misty kissed the top of her head and it was quiet between them for a moment before she asked her girlfriend, “You mentioned goin’ out for dinner earlier? That offer still on the table?”

 

X

 

Dinner was a nice, quiet affair at a casual restaurant; neither of them had felt like getting dressed up. Cordelia had driven them over then home — teasing Misty the whole ride about forcing the younger woman to learn how to drive. Though she could perform a resurrection finer than Jesus Christ, been burned at the stake, survived a childhood of sexual abuse, and then hell nonetheless, the witch was absolutely terrified of getting behind the wheel of a car. “If you’d learn how to drive, you wouldn’t have to take the bus every time you wanted to go downtown.”

 

“But I always meet such interesting people on the bus,” Misty shrugged. “It’s where I met a few patients, too. If I hadn’t taken the bus, Drake would absolutely have died by now. Could you let that rest on your conscious forever?”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t have known that Drake was dying, since I would have never known he existed.”

 

The curly haired witch waved her hand out. “‘Sides, if you’re busy, I can always have Madi drive me. She pretty much does what I say. Queenie never complains when I ask her to take me to the swamp, and I’m pretty sure I could get Zoe or Myrtle to take me wherever I asked, too. Why should I learn to drive?”

 

Cordelia sighed, giving her a smile. “It’s just what adults do, but fine. If you’re happy being a twenty-six-year-old dependent on others for transportation...”

 

“Okay, _mom_ ,” Misty stuck her tongue out and laughed at her girlfriend’s expression.   
  
“Does Madison scream at you every time you call her Madi?”   
  
“Nah,” The younger witch bit at her thumbnail. “She knows I do it out’ta love. If I’m not teasin’ you, I probably don’t like you, so it’s a good thing, really.”   
  
“Oh, is that why you hide my clothes and call me a loser all the time?” Cordelia wondered, brows raised playfully as she pulled into the driveway.

 

“Nah, I don’t like you,” Misty giggled, unbuckling and leaning over to pull her girlfriend’s face to her own, kissing her lips with another laugh. “I love you. Which is why I  tell you you’re a dorkface from planet nerd. I don’t call anybody else that — so you know the love is real. But hiding your clothes ain’t teasin’. It’s just cause I like seein’ ya naked.” 

 

The Supreme shut off the car and opened the door as Misty crossed around the front to take her hand. “You are _really_ good at teasing me,” Cordelia murmured as she pulled Misty into the back door, a hand brushing the back of her hand over her girlfriend’s abdomen as they stood in the hallway. “I like it.” She bit her bottom lip and Misty tilted her head, ideas formulating. 

 

“I can think of lots of ways to tease you tonight, if you want.”

 

A cleared throat snapped them both from the moment, Cordelia flushing and Misty chuckling as she fell forward to hug her favorite person, smiling widely at Myrtle. “Sorry, Myrtle,” She stated through her grin. “She was just tellin’ me that I’m an insufferable tease. Thought I aught to prove it.”

 

“I’m sorry to have to pull her away, then,” The eldest witch waved. “Dear, a call came in from a parent — it appears a Miss Abigail Lethook has had a bought of _accidental_ magic. Her brother’s grown a tail.”

 

“Oh, Jesus,” Cordelia sighed and ran a hand over her face before patting Misty’s back before the woman stood up tall on her own. “Okay, I’m coming. They’re in Baton Rouge — I should be able to get there by nine — sorry, Misty. Unless you really want to come?”

 

“I’d hate for you to be lonely on the drive—”

 

Myrtle stepped forward. “If you don’t mind, Misty, I was hoping for a little time alone with your lady. Is there any chance I can persuade you to let me accompany her?”

 

The youngest of the three nodded. “No problem. Careful, alright?”

 

She pecked Cordelia on the cheek and used transmuation to collapse on their bed for a moment — about to relish in a little bit of free time. Eyeing Cordelia’s journals that the Supreme had placed there in the afternoon, she took the first one, preparing herself for an emotional journey through Cordelia’s marriage.

 

28 June, 2009

What’s the appropriate time to wait after getting married to start asking about having a baby? It’s been just three months, but I know I'm more than ready to become pregnant. I've always wanted to be a mother and having only three girls in the house to teach and mentor, I’d be able to focus on a healthy pregnancy. It would be ideal timing but I have to wonder if Hank is ready to become a father? He's probably not but I'm not sure that he'll ever really be ready until it happens.

 

15 August, 2009

My thoughts couldn't keep quiet anymore. I finally found the courage to bring up the idea of having a baby to Hank. He laughed and asked me if I was serious. Why would I joke about something like this? Does he know me at all?

I tried desperately to keep my emotions in check.

I told Hank that I’m really ready to be a mother but he just laughed more. Said something along the lines of "Why would you want to be a mother when you had Fiona? Everybody becomes their own mother someday. Why would you want to do that to a child?" I'm not entirely sure if those were his words. It was too hard to concentrate through the roaring in my ears.

After he left the bedroom I went into the closet and broke down.

 

31 January, 2010

I know this seems desperate but I tried to take matters into my own hands. I bought a pregnancy test this afternoon. Just to scare Hank. It worked. He asked me when I was due, and I told him it was negative. I have never seen him more relieved.

 

Misty rolled over, feeling Cordelia’s disappointment radiating off the pages.   
  
5 April, 2010

It’s almost 5am and I’m awake. Hank is asleep next to me.

Were already one year into marriage. This whole thing would be a hell of a lot easier if I had a framework for it. I didn't grow up in a two parent family. We might as well of had a revolving door with all the men my mother brought home. I barely got any attention from her at all. What was I thinking? How am I supposed to do this let alone love a child? I know what everything is supposed to be like. Sure, I’ve seen movies and read books but that’s all so dramatic. What do married couples do if they don’t have babies? Focus on having one?

I wish that was our focus right now.

 

19 May, 2010

I told Hank that I was thinking about taking a few days off so I could travel with him with his work. I was hoping that maybe a romantic weekend would boost his confidence a little and maybe push him into having a baby. He told me that he didn’t want me to feel obligated to work with him and that he was usually so busy, that he just passed out in his hotel. In other words, he either knew my angle or he didn't want me around. I'm not sure which reality is worse? I’m starting to feel frustrated and disappointed. Constantly.

 

30 June, 2010

Is it okay to give your husband an ultimatum?

Because I just did. I know this seems horrible but I desperately want to start a family.

 

11 July, 2010

We’re trying!

 

9 August, 2010

Trying to figure out fertility is possibly more complicated than any potion I’ve ever attempted to create.

 

18 November, 2010

I really thought I’d be pregnant by now. I don't understand why I can't do what every woman is made to do. Everyone is right about me, I am a failure.

 

Misty swallowed hard and shook her head, wishing Cordelia were laying next to her so she could pull her into a strong embrace.

 

13 March, 2011

Hank tells me to wait. How am I supposed to wait when we haven’t had sex in four months. I'm at this annoying standstill. I know in my heart that it will happen. I know next month isn't that far away. I know we are closer to having a baby than we have ever been. But when we have been trying for all of these years, waiting one more month feels like an eternity.

Honestly, I'll probably test again later this week. And maybe again after that. I've gotten just a little obsessive.

 

22 September, 2011

I refuse to accept that I can’t have a baby.

 

14 October, 2011

Tomorrow night we’re going to try and conceive a baby. This might be our last attempt before considering in-vitro.

As much as I've let myself be overly optimistic in the past, I really do feel positive about this month. Hank and I are working on stress management considering our fights have been escalating. We're focusing on our relationship, and not letting the emotions take over, or at least I am.

 

Shrugging her shoulders, Misty let out a sigh. She’d always known Cordelia to have a plan, meticulously organized. It must have driven her absolutely up the wall not to have someone who’d follow through with her intentions. She made a vow to herself before continuing on with the journals — if she and Cordelia ever actually started to make a baby, she’d work with her to the millisecond to help keep her structure (and sanity).   
  
Shifting, she noted there weren’t many entries left in the notebook.

 

27 November, 2012

I was absolutely one hundred and fifty thousand percent sure that I was pregnant this month. I had symptoms. I just felt pregnant. I knew that mine, our?, luck was changing. I wasn't even sure who this was for anymore.

With my cycle expected in just a few days, I had decided to buy a pregnancy test and today would be the day I would test. I woke up so excited. Thinking of ways that I would tell Hank, my mother, and Myrtle. With my friends and family, I knew I started carrying their hopes and expectations along with my own.

I peed on the stick and three minutes later my dreams came crashing down. Not pregnant. How could this be? Between all the extreme changes my body was experiencing I knew in my heart that this time this test would be different.

I didn't know how wrong I could be.

 

15 February 2013

We're looking into in-vitro. I feel like I go there a few times a week and sit among dozens of other women who deliberately try not meet each other’s eyes. I told Hank it felt like the saddest room on Earth, waiting beside all of these people who are going through the exact pain you are, but still feeling entirely alone in it. I know he doesn't understand it but for me the pain is all too real.

 

16 August, 2013

This week, I sat in my doctor’s office to get the results of some recent tests. I went into the office expecting to hear about the next expensive procedure we needed to do. I was prepared for her to tell me that I needed to go to yet another fertility specialist. I was expecting the same thing I’ve always found while struggling with infertility: a little bad news and a plan of attack.

Instead, my doctor grabbed my hand and slowly began to shake her head. The words started tumbling from her mouth. They were kind and gentle. It included lots of “Sorry” and offers of help if I wanted to look into adoption. I tried to thank her as I struggled to hold back my sobs. Tears were streaming from my eyes, but I really didn’t want to fall apart until I made it into my car.

This week, I found out that I will never get pregnant again. After years of trying and hoping, my struggle is over.

The doctor said it’s impossible for me to have a baby.

My days of attempting to conceive a child are over.

 

9 September, 2013

We’re using magic.

30 October, 2013

I don’t know what mine and Hank’s relationship is outside of trying to have a baby anymore.

I don’t know what’s left. I don’t know where to go from here. I feel empty.

I feel useless. I feel broken. Like my body has betrayed me and every dream I ever had.  
  
The journal entries abruptly end, but Misty had a good idea why. 

 

X  
  
Cordelia was stiff as she pulled out of the driveway, Myrtle fumbling with the radio knob. “I do appreciate a good tune by Stephanie Lynn, but my goodness — if I’m to live in the Coven, I think I’ll have enough exposure to Ms. Nicks.”

 

The Supreme found a smile. “I’ve learned more about Fleetwood Mac in the last twelve months than I ever thought I needed to. Stevie _is_ a wonderful, selfless woman, though. She came to Misty’s testimony when those bastards were on trail. I don’t know that Misty’d have been as composed as she was without her there.”   
  
“Oh I never doubted her generosity. I just don’t know that I can listen to Bella Donna more than once a day.”

 

Shrugging, Cordelia leaned back, relaxing a little. “I guess love makes you do crazy things — like put Rumors on repeat in the greenhouse. For four hours.” 

 

“Well, I’m just glad that the two of you found one another. It must have been destiny — I couldn’t think of a more compatible pair. You’re so very opposite but in absolutely the best way. I must ask you; all thoughts of babies and whatnot aside, do you, my darling, want to spend the rest of your life with Misty Day?”

 

“Yes,” Cordelia responded with absolutely no hesitation. “I do want to spend the rest of my life with her. I love her, and I have no doubt about that. I could never say that with certainty, with Hank. My vows were a lie. A desperate, half-baked attempt at finding independence while settling. It’s not like that with Misty.”

 

“Your mother did approve of her,” Myrtle shrugged. “I approve of her, if it matters to you.”

 

“It does,” The Supreme flashed a genuine smile. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

 

“Even better than having your sight back?”

 

“I gouged my own eyes out the second time to find her, so I must say yes, I’d be blind forever to be in love with Misty.”  
  
Myrtle sniffed. “Oh, I’m so happy for you. Truly. But I must know, have you been honest about the baby situation?”

 

“It all came out today. She’s reading my journals right now, I imagine. To be honest, I don’t know what they say. But I hope that she realizes just how hard I tried. And how painful it was.”

 

“I’m sure she’ll be understanding. Misty is nothing if not in-tune to what’s around her, and the life it holds. Maybe that’s part of the problem. She sees the potential for life within you, and she wants that manifested.”

 

Cordelia opened and closed her mouth. “I think Misty would be a wonderful mother. She’s got more compassion than she knows what to do with. I know that any child we had would be endlessly loved,” She swallowed hard. “And would never want for attention, or support, or doubt, for a moment, that she has her mothers’ love.”

 

“Of course, not, from either of you.” Myrtle crooned. “You’d be spectacular, a flawless mother worthy of a highly pinned Mommy Blog.”

 

Chuckling, the younger of the two most practiced witches in the Coven leaned back. “Why don’t I just do it? Why don’t I just go home tonight and lay myself out and tell Misty to put a baby in me?”

 

Myrtle clarified, “Just because you’d be good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it. Or that it would make you happy right now. Though I do think you’d be very good at it, and after some initial adjustment, you’d be very happy, too.” Cordelia’s lower lip quivered and Myrtle shook her head. “No, no, no, dear, don’t you start that now. We’ve got a job to do, now. We can resume this conversation after we remove a certain bushy tail from a fourteen-year-old boy.”

 

The topic changed into the type of magic that would be most effective on the Lethook boy, and the rapid-fire knowledge between the two women was incredible. They arrived in Baton Rouge in just over an hour, and Cordelia pulled in with a stern lecture in mind.

 

She knew almost instantly that she wouldn’t need to use it, however, as the front door to a small, red brick ranch opened and one of her youngest students came running down the porch in full hysterics. Closing her arms around Cordelia’s waist before the woman had even closed the door, the Supreme bent down to return it, mostly in surprise. “Abby, what on Earth —”

 

“I don’t mean to, Miss Cordelia, I didn’t I swear, please don’t kick me out of the Coven!” The ten-year-old’s height was just below her chest, her dark brown locks sticking to her cheeks. 

 

The Supreme placed a gentle hand at her back, bending down to her height. “I’m sure you didn’t mean it. Accidents happen. But magic isn’t something to play around with. You know that, you’ve been with us since last winter.”

 

Abby wiped at her wet face, nodding as she led her teacher into the home, which was heavily decorated for Christmas. Mr. Lethook rose from his seat at the kitchen counter, lifting his right hand for Cordelia to shake. “I’m terribly sorry for disrupting your break, ma’am. The occasional accidental fire, we can handle. The floods aren’t usually too bad, either, but...the tail thing — wasn’t sure how I could explain that to my ma’ at Christmas Eve supper tomorrow.”   
  
Laughing, Cordelia squeezed Abby’s shoulder. “I’m very glad that you understand that this was an accident. I can’t guarantee full control of powers by any certain age or time, but we’re doing our best.”

 

The man, tall and sandy-haired, an exact contrast to Abby’s asian features, shrugged. “She’s certainly come along way in just the year she’s been with ya’ll. Used to be fires and floods at least once a week. We only had two little incidents over the summer. I tell you what — we were really starting to consider some sort of juvenile program for her last Christmas. I was so beside myself, thinking she had some sort of conduct disorder. But when I saw your interview on the news — I just knew that my Abby had a gift that I didn’t fully understand.”

 

Cordelia nodded, “Abby works very hard at school. Keeps up with her assignments and is very interested in learning.” The woman turned to her student. “We just added a Divination class to the schedule for January. Miss Snow is going to be teaching it.”

 

“Really?” Abby’s voice squeaked. “I don’t know if I’m any good at that!” 

 

“We’ll find out soon enough. How about that brother of yours?”

 

Mr. Lethook crossed his arms and led her down the hall. She admired photos of little Abby — quickly realizing that the little girl must have been adopted into the family, which would explain them having no idea of the existence of witches. “To be quite honest, my fourteen-year-old son has been the furthest of supportive of Abby’s gift. He pushed her and pushed her and the tail seems like a damn fine result to me — but my mother just won’t understand.”

 

Abby clung to Cordelia’s side as they made way to the fourteen-year-old boy’s room. He was laying on his stomach — a fully grown, intact skunk tail sticking out from his backside. Cordelia had to press her lips together to keep her professionalism in check. “Well, Abby — it’s very well done, if that’s what you were aiming for,” The headmistress teased and her student flushed, her head down. “Alright, this won’t take long.” She held her hands over the boy’s body, closing her eyes and muttering a few words in Latin, willing the growth to disappear.   
  
“Thanks, ma’am.” The boy mumbled and pulled up his trousers, completely blushed from head to toe. “Any chance you can take the witch back with you?”

 

“Trevor!” Mr. Lethook snapped. 

 

“You know,” Cordelia started, reaching for Abby’s hand. The little girl stood bashfully in front of her. “Your sister is a very powerful young lady. She’s come a long way in just a few short months. You should be proud of the control she’s developed. She could have done far more damage to you than she did.”  
  
Trevor couldn’t look at the Supreme. Though she wasn’t scolding him, he felt awkward, which his father seemed to enjoy.   
  
“Girls like Abby and myself have had it hard since the beginning of time. It doesn’t help to have people that love and are supposed to support you bring you down. I know that. I don’t want Abby to know that from experience.”   
  
Abby leaned forward and hugged her mentor, muttering a thank you for reversing the magic she’d performed on her brother. Cordelia told her she was welcome and stood, telling the father that his son would be alright.

 

“Thank you, ma’am. Abby, sweetheart, go on and get yourself ready for bed.” He said sternly. She looked ready to argue, but Cordelia shot her a look as well. “I’ll meet you in a few minutes. It’s late. Go on.”

 

She gave Cordelia another embrace. The witch reminded her, “Be careful. We’re very glad it was just a tail and not something more complicated or dangerous. You’ve got a few weeks here. Enjoy them, but be very careful.”

 

“I will, I promise. Goodbye, Miss Cordelia. I’ll see you soon!” She scampered down the hall, and the father showed the Supreme out. 

 

“Thank you, and I’m sorry once again for having disturbed you over break.”  
  
“Mr. Lethook, it’s no trouble. I’m thankful it was something as simple as a tail.”

 

He chuckled, walking slowly down the hall. “You can call me Jay,” He said with a smile. “Anyway, just, thank you for all you’ve done. Last year, before Abby came to you, we lost her mother. I was nervous about sending her away with that being so recent, but...I’ve never been more glad of a decision that I made. She talks of almost nothing but you, and a Miss Misty and Miss Zoe. Ya’ll have taught her so much about her power, and nurtured her, too. I can’t thank ya’enough.” 

 

Cordelia smiled, feeling accomplished — that’s what she hoped to do. “Well, we do our best. I am constantly reminding the girls that I’m not their mother — though I’m perfectly comfortable with giving out hugs and helping to suck up tears when I have to.”

 

“You surely have kids of your own?” The man questioned her, eyebrow raised in disbelief as Cordelia shook her head. “After that interaction with my two? Wow. I thought for sure that you must have at least two of your own little ones at home. Well, from what I can tell — you’d make an excellent mother if you ever make that decision for yourself. Anyway, we’ve taken up enough of your time. Thanks again, ma’am.”

 

X

 

On Christmas Eve, Misty had gone with Madison downtown for a festival of some sort. Cordelia was hardly phased as she was completely comfortable wearing an oversized crew-neck sweater she’d found in the laundry room with no one to claim it and a pair of baggy, fleece-lined pajama pants. Makeup-free and wonderfully alone, she’d lit a fire in her bedroom and moved several quilts and comforters in front of it, loading old Christmas movies on her laptop and watching them on the floor.

  
She was laying on her stomach, glasses on her nose as she scribbled notes to herself in a notebook — trying to figure out themes for various weeks in gatherings come January and February. 

 

The door swung open as she was entering hour three of her alone time — just starting to wish Misty were in her blanket fort with her, half naked on top of her.

 

“Hey, baby,” The younger witch greeted with a wide, white smile as she shed her jacket and boots, crawling up Cordelia’s body and laying on top of her, kissing her shoulder and peering at her notes.   


The Supreme gave a little grunt at the weight on top of her, but she certainly didn’t mind it.   
  
“Are you becoming clairvoyant?” She questioned her girlfriend, who gave a misunderstanding noise. “I was just thinking,” Cordelia started, reaching a hand behind her to squeeze Misty’s upper leg, “That I wanted you on top of me, half naked.”

 

“Well, I must not have the full powers, I missed that last part.” She pulled a leg over, removing her shawl and tank top in one move, leaving her in a bra (for a change) and short skirt. Cordelia growled and hooked an arm around her middle, pulling her close and kissing her side. “You gettin’ lonely here without me?”

 

“Just about. I like my time to myself, too, but when I want you to push me down and stick your tongue in my mouth — that’s what I want.”

 

Misty nearly choked — Cordelia was so rarely forward in her desires that she had absolutely zero problem obliging. Her flirtatiousness in the last few days was driving the usually dominant younger witch absolutely _wild_. “If that’s what the Supreme wants, then who am I to deny her that?” Misty started, forcing Cordelia down gently to the blanket nest, clicking her tongue at the sight of her baggy attire. “What the hell are you wearin’, darlin’? These are not leggings. I’m pretty sure I had simple demands of you.”

 

“Sorry,” The Supreme bit her tongue, trying not to laugh as Misty shucked them from her, sending them flying carelessly back to a seat while she gasped. “What is this lacy number?” She reached the back of her fingers to drag slow over the black, snippily cut pair of panties that her girlfriend had on for her. Cordelia was flushed, a finger in her mouth as she tried to keep her cool. “Oh sweet lord, please tell me there’s a matching top?”

 

Cordelia let out a giggle that almost made her want to light her own hair on fire it was so out of her character — but that’s just what Misty could produce from her. “Guess you’d have to find out.”

 

Misty took the edge of her top and pushed up slowly, revealing her smooth stomach, then — “Shit, ‘Delia,” She groaned as she spotted a nearly transparent, black lace bra that covered hardly half of each breast. “Oh my word,” She muttered, pulling the fabric all the way off and then leaning back, taking in the radiant body of the woman she loved. “Where the hell have you been hiding this?”

 

“UPS delivers on Christmas Eve. Last minute gifts.” She winked and Misty fell forward in a giggle, her curls tickling Cordelia’s bare skin as the Supreme laughed along. “I got a whole bunch of surprises for you.”

 

Misty kissed her lips twice, moaning into the second kiss. Cordelia tried to weasel a hand up to take off her glasses, but her girlfriend gently swatted it down. “I like ‘em.” She waved a hand, shimmying her shoulders a little as she straddled her girlfriend. “I like this whole package. A lot. ‘Delia, I got...well a little surprise thought for you, I guess.” She bent down to kiss her once more before confessing, “I was talkin’ to Madison, as I do — and don’t you even, ‘cause you totally had this same conversation with Myrtle, don’t you lie to me.”

 

Cordelia opened and closed her mouth but shrugged, she did.

 

“But, she was thinkin’ maybe...now, please don’t get too flustered over this, but she was wonderin’ maybe it would be easier for you...us, if, maybe...” She sighed, clearly unsure of what sort of reaction Cordelia might have. “What if _I_ had the baby?”   
  
Not expecting that, the Supreme pushed herself up to her elbows and Misty went pale, muttering curses to herself. “Should’a kept that one inside, damnit...”

 

“If you had our baby?” Cordelia looked ready to cry. “Misty, I’ve —” She tried to wiggle herself out from under her girlfriend. “Get off me,” She muttered, shaking her head, forcing her tears down. “Get off, now.”

 

Wanting nothing more than to swallow her words, Misty complied but only barely, as Cordelia sat herself up. They were still physically close — but the younger witch knew that she’d just distanced them emotionally _again_.   
  
“I was just hoping to give you another choice,” The curly haired woman sighed, unable to keep her gaze off the floorboards as she shifted to tuck her legs under her, her fingers fidgeting together nervously in her lap.

  
Cordelia shook her head, the tears spilling over her cheeks beyond her control. Managing to speak what was on her mind, she stated, “I’ve wanted to be a mother _forever_.”  
  
“I know, but it’s not like you wouldn’t be,” She tried to reason, knowing that it was going to backfire, but still rambling on, thoughts tumbling out of her like wildfire. “I’d just be the one carryin’ it around for nine months.”

 

Cordelia eyed the big sweater that had been tossed over her head, about to reach for it when Misty took her hands. “No, no — don’t hide yourself. Tell me what you’re thinkin’.”

 

“I didn’t just want to be a mother, Misty. I wanted to be pregnant. I thought — I thought you gathered that,” Her lip trembled as she, too, couldn’t look up at her partner. 

 

“I did,” Misty said, feeling a little choked up herself. “Sweetheart, ‘Delia, I did. I know how hard you tried and how awful and painful it was. I know that you’ve done your best to sort through that and you’re afraid to put yourself back in a place where you might feel those things again. Which is why, maybe, it would work out better if I had the baby.”

 

“No!” Cordelia bit out, drawing her knees to her chest, knowing why she was feeling like such an absolute disaster at Misty’s mere idea. “You can’t do this to me!”

 

“Do what?” Misty’s eyes started to water too, and she reached forward, trying to pull Cordelia into her arms. The Supreme locked her arms around herself, making it clear she didn’t want to be held. “What, ‘Delia?”

 

It was a long stretch of silence — but Misty would not give into it this time. Finally, her lover explained. “I know that I’m a disappointment, and a failure — I’ve been told that my whole damn life,” Cordelia managed through a thick lump in her throat. “But I thought you understood!”

 

The younger witch opened and closed her mouth — so at a loss for words. “You’re not a disappointment. Never, not ever,” She breathed out, reaching a hand to place on Cordelia’s bare back. “Even through all this, sure, I’ve been a little bit bummed or maybe even agitated, but never disappointed with you. Your feelings are important and they matter. I do understand that you’ve had such complicated feelings in the past, that’s why I thought I’d spare you the pain —”

 

“Spare me the pain?” Cordelia rubbed the back of her hand along her cheek. “By telling me that I don’t need to bother having a baby for you, with you?”

 

“‘Delia, that’s not how I meant it, please, please don’t twist it in your beautiful brain,” Misty cried, pulling her over, resting her blonde locks against her chest, kissing her forehead with wet lips. “Darlin’ I just thought maybe it would be better for you this way — I don’t think you’re a failure, or that you can’t do it. I know you _can_. But I thought maybe if I had the pregnancy, it might be better for you. I’m sorry. I won’t — I won’t mention it again. I’m so sorry, ‘Delia. I love you and I never meant for that to hurt you.”

 

Cordelia sobbed loudly for a moment, not even bothering to try and compose herself. “I want to have a baby — to be pregnant. I always have.” She paused, looking up at Misty’s sadly guilty face. “Do you want to be pregnant?”

 

“I-I want to have a baby with you,” She confessed, shaking her head. “I don’t mind carryin’ a baby if that’s what you want — it’s not something I’ve always wanted, but it’s something I’d do, for you. But if you want to fulfill this dream of yours, then please, ‘Delia, please, you carry our baby, okay? I want you to have that tender spot in your heart filled, no matter if it’s you or me that fills it. I never had that lifelong yearnin’ for this, like you have had. Even if it’s a little painful, and you feel unsure — when you’re ready, I’m here for you. I’ll support you in whatever physical or emotional way that I can during this. Okay? Please, please? Don’t be mad. I just wanted to give you another option is all. I’m so sorry.”  
  
Taking a few deep breaths, the Supreme nodded. “I-I want to try, to have the baby. I do, I want to be pregnant, Misty. With your baby. However it is you’ve found a way — let’s do it. Let’s do it.”

 

Laughing into a cry, Misty tipped her forehead down so it was covering her girlfriend’s. “You want to do it. You want to have a baby with me. You want to hold the life that we make together inside you?”

 

“I do,” Cordelia said in a sob of a whisper. “I do, Misty. I do, I do, I do.”

 

Misty cried against her face and before she knew it, Cordelia had her cheeks in her palms, kissing her passionately, despite the tear tracks down both their faces. “Let’s make a baby, darlin’.”


	4. Chapter Four

Christmas morning was a quiet affair. Neither Misty nor Cordelia woke before nine o’clock, and when they finally did, they decided they couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed for at least an hour. They laid about — slow, easy kisses, gentle touches in the lazy stillness of the morning. Finally managing to sit up, Cordelia offered to make breakfast, insisting Misty stay cooped up in the warmth of their bed.   
  
Though as the Supreme left, Misty hastily tossed the covers off her body and scurried into the walk-in closet, opening the trunk full of her clothes and accessories that Cordelia really wanted her to organize. Biting her lip, she pulled out a small, black velvet box, opening it with a thick swallow. A golden band was laced with diamonds — completely elegant, absolutely fitting for Cordelia. It was far more regal than her wedding ring from Hank had been, and far more _her_.

 

Misty frowned — she didn’t want Cordelia thinking that the ring was in response to her finally saying that she wanted to have a baby. It wasn’t. In fact, the younger witch had been planning a proposal for weeks. She’d only confirmed the idea when she had a way to fund such a purchase. 

 

_“Thanks for drivin’, Madi,” Misty flashed her friend a smile as they stepped out of the shorter witch’s car after a dodgy parallel parking job. They’d originally gone downtown for a holiday festival, though the necromancer had pleaded to stop at a pawn shop as well. She’d been eyeing a collection of records that was a pretty penny for months. When Cordelia had given her a load of old jewelry, she’d been beyond antsy in desire to trade it in._

 

_“Whatever,” Madison shrugged as they entered. The shop keeper recognized Misty and greeted her enthusiastically, while Madison stared into the display cases, bored in minutes.  
  
“Ready to trade in for them records?” The dark skinned man questioned Misty and she bounced on her toes excitedly — too ready to put them on and give a listen. “What’cha got?”_

 

_She fished into her pocket, revealing the necklace, bracelet, and ring. The owner whistled at the sight of the ring. “Wow, Miss Day, I think this’ll get’cha them records alone and then some. Where’d you find it?”_

 

_Misty flushed. “My-my girlfriend was married before. She was goin’ through her things and told me to get rid of it.”_

 

_“Oh, so you’re gonna spoil yourself now, huh?” He laughed, taking out a small scale and magnifying glass.  
  
She blushed even further. “I-I mean, she...” Pressing her lips together, Misty looked down. Should she really trade in Cordelia’s former wedding ring for a gift for herself?_

 

_“Hey, Madi?” She questioned as the man appraised her ring. The barely-legal young woman shot her a look before realizing that her friend had a real question for her._

 

_“Why do you gave that guilty look all over you?” The girl wanted to know. “Cordy told you to get rid of it, then do what you wanted with the money. When someone gives you money, you take it. No self-righteous, better-world thinking.”_

 

_Misty opened and closed her mouth. “I feel like maybe I should get something for Cordelia though. Something to replace it with.”_

 

_Madison rolled her eyes. “You want to get her a wedding ring? Misty, be real.”_

 

_“I am,” The twenty-six year old played with her fingers, eyes on the floor. “I’ve been...thinkin’ ‘bout marriage a lot. Almost as much as the baby,” She lowered her voice. “They kind’a go together, don’t’cha think?”_

 

_“Yeah, but,” Madison slid past her, eyeing an old bracelet that caught her attention. “Two things. One, you can’t even legally married down here; so it doesn’t really matter.”_

 

_“It sure as shit does,” Misty defended herself, feeling cross with the smaller witch. “Just ‘cause the government don’t recognize a marriage don’t make it any less real. If you fuckin’ love somebody and you wanna marry ‘em, I don’t care if you got all the fancy paperwork and tax breaks or not — you marry ‘em.”_

 

_“Okay,” The younger witch clicked her tongue. “Take it easy, swamp girl. But — what about the baby thing. She pretty much all but said it was going to be a long time before she was ready — if she’s ever ready. Do you want to be married to someone who doesn’t want a baby with you?”_

 

_Misty crossed her arms. “I love her, Madi. I love Cordelia. Whether or not we have a child together in the future does not affect my feelings for her. That’s something we’re working on. If it happens, I’ll be damn thrilled. But if it doesn’t — sure, I’ll be bummed, but I’ll live with it.”_

 

_“Jesus Christ,” The starlet rolled her eyes. “Why do you have to be so good, Misty? It’s nauseating.”_

 

_“Miss Day?” The man at the counter called her attention and Misty stepped forward. He gave her the total she could receive for cashing in the jewelry and her eyes nearly popped out of her head — she’d never touched that kind of money in her life. “Even after the record collection, you’d easily still have over a thousand dollars to spend.”_

 

_Staring hard at the vinyl she’d wanted forever, Misty shook her head and smiled. “I think I’ll just take the cash, sir.”_

 

_There was silence as he took care of the transaction. Misty folded the bills up and slid them into her top, thankful she’d put on a bra. Her heart was racing like it hadn’t since the first time she and Cordelia were about to make love._

 

_“I’m guessing now you’ll want me to take you to a jewelry store?” Madison asked with a sigh._

 

 _“Please,” Misty nodded, her palms sweating with excitement. “Think that an engagement ring and tellin‘ her ‘bout the baby idea — that I have it instead, is gonna be too much excitement for one day?”_  
  
She’d picked out the ring hardly an hour before their last near-fight. Misty was going to propose regardless of any answer that Cordelia might have for her about their baby situation — she wanted to make sure the Supreme understood that.

 

Folding it back into the trunk, Misty pulled on short, sleeveless lace dress and a bright red shawl, detangling her hair so the curls hung naturally. She skipped the black smudge on her eyes though, using makeup the way Cordelia had taught her over the summer. She looked older when she was put together. Hiking up a pair of black, heeled boots and pulling on the moon necklace she’d been given by Stevie during June’s trial, she looked down at the simple gold band on her own finger. She was ready for Cordelia to have one that matched.

 

Sliding back under the covers, she waited for a few minutes before Cordelia had the door propped open and she slid in with a tray, making Misty grin in appreciation as she sat up, the blanket falling off the top of her and Cordelia’s jaw dropping with it.

 

“What are you wearing?”

 

She shrugged, pretending to be shy as the Supreme set their breakfast down and eyed her up and down, swallowing hard. “Damnit, Misty Day. You can’t just look like this. It’s not fair.”

 

Giggling, she reached up to pull her girlfriend into a kiss. “I know we’re witches, but I’m going to wish you a merry Christmas anyway.”

 

“Merry Christmas to you, too. The Yule log is still burning — we can enjoy both.” She winked and kissed her again. “C’mere, let’s eat.”

 

They moved to the little table near the fire place where they shared many meals together, enjoying Cordelia’s homemade scones with fruit piled on top. 

 

“I don’t know how I survived on my own before I met you,” Misty said as she put a hand over her stomach as she inhaled far too food much for one sitting. “I can’t believe I didn’t starve.”   
  
“Well, Fiona didn’t cook, so I had to learn. Myrtle is excellent in the kitchen — so most of my tricks and recipes come from her. You should spend some time with her over the stove — she’d be more than happy to teach you.”   
  
The very woman in discussion knocked at their door and opened it slightly. “Good morning, and happy Christmas,” She smiled, “I do hate to interrupt your beautiful morning but, Cordelia, your presence has been requested in the gathering room. Your council would like to see you.”

 

Her brow furrowing, the Supreme nodded, stating she’d be down in five minutes. She looked at Misty, who was having a hard time keeping a straight face. “What do you know?” She questioned and the younger witch giggled before using transmutation to disappear. Sighing, Cordelia made her way to the closet to find something as attractive as Misty’s outfit to wear.   
  
Sliding on a tight black pencil skirt that ended just above her knees, Cordelia added a satin red, button-up shirt with a collar, then a snug black sweater over it. Shrugging, she slid on a pair of black pumps and made way down the stairs after running a comb through her hair.

 

“What’s all the fuss?” She questioned as she spotted her council plus Madison, Myrtle, and Kyle in the gathering room, standing around the tall, neatly decorated pine tree. A straight-backed chair was near the fire, still blazing with the Yule log. 

 

“Well,” Zoe started, her cheeks red as she tried to fight her smile. “We feel like you timed the Yule Ball very conveniently to the anniversary to your Supremehood. Almost so that it’d be overshadowed by celebration for the holiday. But, we’re not letting you get away with that.”  
  
“So,” Queenie went next, not even bothering to hide her grin. “Even though you told us not to do Christmas gifts or secret Santa or anything like that, and to treat ourselves, we couldn’t do that.”

 

“Take a seat, baby doll,” Misty rocked on her toes, meeting her girlfriend’s eyes, sensing exactly what she wanted to do. “You’re not gonna get out’ta this. Might as well enjoy it.”

 

Groaning as her whole body took on the color of her shirt, Cordelia let Kyle take her arm and lead her to the chair as her council and friends (and Madison) sat around the open love seats and sofas, each holding something wrapped, except Misty, who’s hands were in her lap and face was flushed almost as dark as her partner’s.   
  
“I’ll go first,” Queenie leaned forward, stretching out a small box for Cordelia to take. With a near trembling hand, she stroked the ruby-hued paper. “When I first came here, I was looking for some sort of sisterhood. I wanted to learn how to shoot fire from my hands and wake the dead. I didn’t find all that. But, I’ve gotten something better. Even if we didn’t always get along at first, spending this last year on your council has made me feel like a leader, for the first time in my life. Thank you, Cordelia. This is something that I hope shows my thanks.” She pulled off the paper and opened the box to reveal a sparkling set of Angelite gemstones strung on a neat chord— which she knew symbolized gratitude and worked to enhance the throat chakra when needing words of compassion.

 

Already choked up, Cordelia nodded into a laugh, unable to properly thank the once surly, mistrustful witch for the gift. Instead, she leaned forward into a heavy hug with Queenie, who patted her back.

 

Sighing, she managed a, “Thank you, I can only imagine you will remember this as the Christmas where Cordelia wouldn’t stop crying.”

 

Zoe giggled, taking her turn as the Supreme sat back, fully flustered. “Last fall, when I joined you, I didn’t know where my future was taking me. I was scared and nervous, and was worried that you were going to think I was a useless witch who didn’t have a chance here, either. But you accepted me into the house right away, and then asked me to be a member of your council. I’d never felt more important. Thank you, Cordelia,” She passed her a box and the Supreme struggled as she swallowed a small lump in her throat before accepting it. “This is something I hope we can learn about together during our one-on-ones this winter. Then maybe we’ll both know a little bit more about our future.”

 

Cordelia opened a box of neatly drawn tarot cards and a book explaining how to read them for beginners. Thanking Zoe with an embrace, Cordelia could only imagine what Kyle had in a much larger box.

 

“I know that you probably didn’t want a zombie boy living among your Coven, in the beginning, but you never made me feel like I didn’t belong. Thanks for letting me stay here, and always talking to me when you just know I need it.” Cordelia grinned and squeezed his hand before he pressed the heavy box in her lap. She was very confused until she opened the paper and laughed as a NutriBullet appeared. Kyle was constantly complaining that she used the same blender that he made smoothies in to create potentially deadly potions. “Now you can keep that in the greenhouse with the poison, and the other one can be for food. _Only_ for food.” 

 

Feeling much lighter at his gift, she leaned forward to wrap her arms around the only regular male in their lives, kissing his cheek in thanks, promising not to take the old one for her alchemy any longer. 

 

Madison was next, and Cordelia could hardly imagine what she had to say. Able to tell how uncomfortable and nervous she was, the Supreme leaned a hand forward and placed it gently on her knees. The younger witch nodded, smiling with a sigh of relief. “I guess — I’m sorry. For being a bitch. I don’t know. I...I — Misty, she told me that you guys were doing this surprise…thing…for your anniversary and I wanted to...” Never having seen Madison at a loss for words, Cordelia tilted her head, nodding, encouraging her to continue. “Last year, I wanted to be the Supreme. I didn’t know who else I was anymore. Then...I wasn’t, and...You deserve this, Cordelia. You’re the best damn leader this Coven could have had. They deserve you. We’re better for having you. And...I want...” She swallowed, the conversation was probably one of the most difficult she’d ever had in her life. “Thank you, for taking me back. With only the safety of the rest of the Coven in mind. You put all the horrible shit I did behind you. I hope that...” She passed her a small envelope. “I hope that I’m proving to you that I’m working on myself. And I hope that maybe you and Misty can work on yourselves a little with this, too.”

 

Opening the card before responding, Cordelia blinked back another wave of tears at two plane tickets and reservations for the couple on a private island. “Madison,” She whispered her name.   
  
Misty reached forward to find out where she was going. “Shit, girl!”  
  
Cordelia could only nod and reached forward to pull Madison into their first ever embrace. “You have proved to me, this year, that you are capable of being the witch I always knew you could be. I am looking forward to watching you teach my girls. I know you can do it. Thank you, Madison.” 

 

She sighed and the starlet pulled away, flushed and fidgety as Misty’s turn came next. Her partner shook her head. “My gift is upstairs. It’s to be done in private, these girls probably already know, though.”

 

Nodding, Cordelia leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before Myrtle began. “My darling Cordelia. You’ve made it through this whole first year without me, and I couldn’t be more proud.” She leaned over to take her surrogate daughter’s hand and squeeze it. “I am happy to be with you as you go through your next year, supporting you in any way that I can. You have done beautifully, my love, teaching these girls, bringing back the traditions of our people, and protecting the Coven from anything that might come our way — paparazzi or real threats. Hopefully this will give you some protection of your own, not that you’d need it of course, but sometimes, a little reminder that there are others here for you can go a long way.”   
  
The Supreme opened a little jewelry box to reveal a thin, gold chain, with a petite pentagram charm. Smiling, as it was the perfect size and style for her to wear regularly, she stood up to embrace her replacement mother fully before the woman clasped the necklace around her. 

 

She looked down and smiled, Misty nodding in approval. With a heavy, heartfelt sigh, she turned to the small group assembled before her and let out a small cry of appreciation before shaking her head and lifting her shoulders. “I don’t know what to say,” She uttered, blinking away fresh tears of happiness. “You’re incredible. I can’t say enough thanks,” She took a deep breath. “You’re such beautiful women, and Kyle — you’re wonderful. I’m in shock. This is too much, but also much appreciated. This first year has been an incredible challenge of trial and error, learning to delegate, and trust more. Now this second year, is about finding balance for me. I am looking forward to working as a team with all of you, including Madison and Kyle, as we move forward to bring this Coven to the future of all it is capable of being. Thank you.” 

 

They all rose to embrace their Supreme once more, Misty waiting as the rest of the council and Madison, Myrtle, and Kyle stepped forward, the male of the house taking the paper scraps as well while Myrtle moved the other gifts to Cordelia’s office as they wrapped up the small celebration. Myrtle mentioned a Christmas supper at one o’clock, and they agreed to meet back in the dining room for it. 

 

Misty pulled her too-emotional girlfriend to the side, peppering a few gentle kisses to her shoulders once the rest of the group had faded away. “I got something for you, too—”

 

“Misty, no,” Cordelia nearly whined, unable to take the gestures of kindness. “I told you —”

 

“Yeah,” She giggled, kissing her girlfriend. “But I don’t always follow directions so good, Miss Cordelia. I’ll take my punishment later. Anyway,” She pressed her lips to her lover’s once more. “My gift to you will be given this evening. I think you’ve had more than enough excitement for now. And you did say something about laying in bed with White Christmas — whatever the hell that is, playing on your computer this afternoon?”

 

Nodding, the Supreme dabbed at her eyes. “I watched it last year, while I was a wreck of trying to figure out how to find you. I decided to give myself a little break and watch one of the only Christmas movies my mother ever enjoyed. It made me terribly sad, but also helped somehow. Will you watch it with me?”

 

“Whatever you want,” Misty squeezed her middle as they made way back to their favorite place. 

 

X  
  
Christmas dinner became quite an affair — Myrtle completely outdoing herself with Kyle’s assistance in the kitchen, creating a damn near feast for the council and Madison. Still completely overwhelmed, Cordelia joined the group with flushed skin and shy smiles, sitting closer to Misty than she usually would have, out of the sense of ease the younger witch provided her with. 

 

Myrtle spoke a few words and Zoe gave a Yule blessing, quite articulately. Cordelia beamed — the youngest member of the inner circle of witches had come a very long way in just over a year’s time. They dug into the food, every bite as good as the memories of Christmas and Yule season’s past, from her preteen years into young adulthood. Occasionally Fiona had even visited between the twenty-first and the New Year; and Myrtle never hesitated to show off her cooking skills for the former Supreme. 

 

Nearly over eating, Cordelia insisted that she’d clean up the feast, refusing to let anyone else lift a finger. Naturally, Misty wouldn’t allow her to do it alone, and insisted on helping. The two of them washed and dried the larger cook wear by hand, loading the main house’s dishwasher and cleaning up the table while Misty sang under her breath and the two of them made way to their bedroom, ready for the quiet evening alone. 

 

Cordelia sat Misty down on their mattress, tucking her curls behind her shoulders and kissing her cheek before requesting that she stay put. 

 

She sneaked into the closet then out with a few wrapped gifts, making Misty shake her head and stand up as well, retrieving a few that she’d purchased for her girlfriend (with Madison’s help; before the other surprise she’d managed).   
  
Cordelia chuckled, shaking her head. “I guess next year when we agree not to do gifts for each other, we stick with it.”

 

“Or you can just accept that I’m always gonna wanna spoil ya ‘cause you deserve it. But — this isn’t what I was talkin’ ‘bout earlier. This is all just for fun.”

 

Cordelia passed the first box over to Misty. “Go on.”

 

She ripped off the sparkly gold paper, opening a box to reveal a fringed hobo bag in black, faux leather, but designer nonetheless. “Is this your subtle way of tellin’ me that you don’t wanna be seen with mine that has all the patches and frays?”

 

“Not really subtle,” Cordelia laughed. 

 

Misty smiled, “I do like it, though — thank you. That old one I’ve had since I left the compound, and I got it used at that. So I suppose it’s time for something nice and new.” She passed Cordelia a box. The Supreme’s blush returned to her cheeks and she found a set of oils that had a symbol she recognized as an ancient symbol of romance. “I was told that if you have these burning while makin’ love, the experience shifts so you can feel what your partner is feeling. I don’t know — I thought you might want to try it,” She stated, without even a stutter. Cordelia was completely red, but clearly excited by the idea. 

 

“So, we’re trying that out tonight, right?” She winked, passing Misty a small bag. “Maybe I can persuade you to put this on, too.”   
  
They both found themselves giggling as they each opened a set of lingerie from one another, both eager to try them on. A few additional shawls, skirts, and magical trinkets later — Misty was ready for her big reveal. Taking Cordelia’s hands, she led the woman to sit in front of the fire that was roaring in their room. She’d thought of creating some sort of elaborate scheme to propose, but decided that’s not how Cordelia would want such an occasion. She’d want quiet, memorable — just the two of them, in a place where they could quickly transition to make love with a new ring on her finger as the only article on her person. 

 

Misty disappeared in a flash, returning with her hands clasped tightly behind her back. Cordelia had no honest idea what her girlfriend might have planned. “What are you up to?” She tilted her head, clueless. 

 

The younger witch bit her lip before stepping forward. “‘Delia, earlier, everyone had wonderful things to say to you. Now, it’s my turn.” She took one of the woman’s hands, taking a brave breath before meeting her eyes as she sat next to her on the love seat. “In the year since you’ve been the Supreme, you’ve completely changed my life, that is, of course, after you saved it. You got me out of hell, then got me out of my own hell of memories that were eating me alive.” Cordelia reached two fingers up already to wipe at her eyes while Misty nodded, squeezing her palm. “You taught me so much about magic, and love, and intimacy. You taught me how to fully love another person. You accept me, flaws and all, every day, in your arms. I love you more than anything. And I know that we don’t need to verify that love for anyone, but...” She revealed the small box, choking up as she asked the love of her life, “Will you marry me, ‘Delia?”   
  
The Supreme let out a full sob at the sight of a golden band with a large, circular diamond in the middle, with a dozen smaller ones surrounding it, then two more on each side of the outer circle. “Misty,” She breathed her lover’s name, bringing her hand to her face as Misty tried not to completely cry herself. “Of course, of course — I’ll marry you.”

 

“I-I,” The younger witch stuttered, in such surprise over all that she’d managed to say already, though she really wanted to finish her thoughts, “I didn’t decide this over night, you know. With our talk about the baby yesterday, I hope you don’t think I’m only asking ‘cause we finally figured that all out. I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a few months now, ‘Delia. I love you.” She took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her fiancee’s left ring finger, kissing the diamond before kissing her someday-wife’s lips. “I want us to just...be official, be married, whenever you want to — I’m not in a rush. I just...well, I want us to...enjoy what other couples do, I suppose.”

 

Cordelia was at a complete loss for words as she accepted Misty’s kisses and touches. She just kept repeating, “I love you. I want to marry you,” Between their mouths molding together. Misty was tickled, unable to keep her hands off her girlfriend — fiancee; it would take getting used to. “Tell me we’re going to celebrate this right,” Cordelia pleaded with hooded eyes.   
  
“Of course,” Misty hooked an arm around her hip, squeezing playfully. “The only thing I want you wearing is that ring, love.”

 

X

 

Cordelia laid her head over Misty’s bare chest, her hand coming to rest beside it, her ring catching in the light that managed to shine in their window. “You know,” She sighed, “The state still won’t recognize our kind of marriage.”

 

“Yeah, well, we’ll know we’re married. I don’t give a shit what Louisiana thinks of that. She kissed the top of her fiancee’s head. “Do you want to have a big ceremony or a little one?”

 

Shrugging, the Supreme responded with a somewhat-distant gaze. “I mean, who else would we invite besides the Coven? We could probably have everyone together, I guess.”

 

“Mhm,” Misty ran her fingers down over Cordelia’s shoulder. “I was thinkin’ we make the yard all full’a lights and candles — white tulle everywhere, flowers...do it here. It’s not like we’re goin’ to a chapel to get married.”   
  
“No, I think they hang people like us upside down from crosses — lesbians and witches. Double whammy. But I want you to really think about what you want for this, okay? I’ve been married once. I want you to get to experience all _this_.” She almost felt guilty that Misty had been the one who asked — though she’d been caught so wonderfully off guard, she wasn’t sure she could have ever pulled it off so blissfully blindly (ironically enough). “Though, can I make one request? And you can say no.”

 

Misty mumbled her agreement, kissing the top of Cordelia’s head. 

 

With a deep breath she wondered, “I’d like to wait. Probably two years. Because,” She kissed her fiancee’s lips, smiling down at her as she took on just the ghost of confused disappointment. “I want our baby to be in our wedding. I want our little one walking down the isle with you. If you like that, of course.” Misty’s lower lip quivered and she could only nod. “Yeah? You like that?”

 

“I love that,” Misty managed to voice, kissing her girlfri— fiancee repeatedly. “You, me, our baby, and our wedding. There’s so much to anticipate, ‘Delia. I can’t wait for what’s next for us.”


	5. Chapter Five

Misty’s knees were bouncing as she chewed her thumbnail, staring out the window with a heavy breath every half minute. Cordelia was trying to settle into the seat next to her, but was finding it difficult with the chaotic energy radiating off her fiancee. “Misty,” She sighed her name, reaching a hand to cover her lap, forcing the nervous knees to still. 

 

“Sorry,” She leaned her head back, pulling her thumb out of her mouth. “My stomach’s in knots. I know I didn’t have much for education, but I just don’t understand how this damn thing stays in the air.” Her gaze fell to the plane’s wings as it rose higher above the clouds. 

 

“Science,” Cordelia responded, leaning over to peck her partner’s lips. “Lean back and relax, we’ll be there before you know it. I brought you a movie to watch and everything.”

 

Misty raised a brow as Cordelia fished out her iPad and a pair of earbuds, loading something from her videos, making her fiancee flush and give a little clap when the title sequence to Stevie Nicks’ documentary from the making of her 2011 album popped up. “You’re gonna be a great frickin’ mama, you know that? I guess this’ll probably take my mind off the nerves. You wanna watch, too?”

 

“I think I have it memorized,” The Supreme teased, leaning back in her seat to close her eyes. Cheekily, she quoted a question from the movie. “Have you ever _met_ Ann Rice?”

 

“No, but I drove past her house once,” Misty replied with a giggle. “I get’cher point. But that ain’t stoppin’ me from watching it again.” 

 

They landed several hours later, Cordelia a blur as she woke up and her iPad was at about six percent battery. Misty was full of life and chatter as the ocean was a crystal blue and they waited on the runway before being allowed off the plane. There was no terminal — just a small staircase with travel assistants waiting to take them to their private house. Misty bumped her fiancee’s side, muttering, “This is how the Supreme should travel.” 

 

“That would mean I leave the academy for more than four hours.” Cordelia mumbled back, reaching her fingers to twist into Misty’s. Their luggage was loaded into a golf cart and two dark skinned women in skimpy clothes were holding very large glass cups filled with blue liquid, orange garnishes on the side. The two witches were presented with them, then had leis placed around their necks. 

 

“Welcome to Paradise, Ms. Day, Ms. Goode. We’re Pali and Mago, your humble assistants for the length of your stay. Anything you need is just a call away. If you’ll please?”

 

Misty raised her brows before taking her straw in her mouth, sipping long before following the women to their cart. “I don’t know what it is, but it tastes like I’m going to want one in my hand this entire vacation.” 

 

Cordelia tried a sip — her lips puckering. “Wow, that’s sweet.”

 

“Like me,” Misty grinned, tilting her head as she drank more. “It’s not wine, darlin‘ — we’re on an island. You’re gonna have to let loose.”

 

“I’ll do my best,” Cordelia insisted as they took off in the cart, Misty’s wild curls flapping and Cordelia’s loose blonde locks blowing in the ocean breeze. “I can’t believe how damn white that sand is.”   
  
“This is incredible. I feel like I’m dreamin’.” Misty continued to drink and within five minutes’ time they pulled up to a building — all glass windows and three stories high; that was possibly bigger than Robichaux’s Academy. “Is this like the island welcoming center?” Misty wondered as she nearly finished her drink. 

 

The Supreme chuckled and put her arm around Misty’s shoulders, kissing her temple. “No, Mist. This is for us. And you aught to slow down there.”

 

Misty’s jaw dropped and she leaned forward, squinting. “Are we in heaven? I only ever been t’hell before, so I’m not certain—” Cordelia laughed again and Misty downed the rest of her beverage, standing up with a squeak as she caught herself on the edge of the cart, keeping her balance with a palm on the edge of the armrest. “Oh my goodness, I love vacation.”

 

They were escorted into the building, the younger witch in a tipsy state of shock as one of the assistants took her empty glass and replaced it with another fruity drink. She looked around the entryway, which was as large as her and Cordelia’s shared bedroom, then headed into the kitchen, where a team had worked to prepare an elaborate first meal for them. “Aww, hell, no, this is too much.”

 

Cordelia wrapped a hand around her middle. “We’ve got seven days of this,” She whispered, kissing near her fiancee’s ear as they headed to the counter, where an exotic spread of seafood and vegetarian options was waiting. 

 

Misty sat down at a bar and a chef walked them down the line of their dining options, his accent thick but understandable. “Okay, but can we see the bedroom?”

 

The older witch sent her fiancee a look and Misty shrugged, stuffing a hollowed out pepper with herbs inside into her mouth. “I’d like to know where I’ll be resting my head at night. Or not resting because I’m goin’—”

 

Cordelia cleared her throat and took a long swallow of her drink, pulling on Misty’s arm as the woman took another mouthful of food and another beverage. “Upstairs, I’m assuming?”

 

Their kitchen staff laughed. “Indeed. We’ll leave you be so you can explore on your own. We live down the street. We come at seven to prepare breakfast for eight thirty, eleven to prepare lunch for one, and six to prepare a late supper for eight. If you want us at all between those times, the number to call is posted on the fridge. Enjoy your afternoon ladies.”

 

The women who dropped them off directed them up the stairs, winking as Misty excitedly pulled Cordelia by the hand as their assistants called up, “Your luggage has already been placed in your room. Feel free to unpack, settle in, or go to the beach. You’ll have full use of the cart parked outside as well. There’s a phone on the dresser. We’ll be at the staff house as well if you need anything.”  


“Thank you,” The Supreme tossed over her shoulder, trying not to laugh at her slightly-drunk fiancee’s exuberance. 

 

Misty found a large set of French doors at the end of a hallway and made a beeline for them, her  cup just empty enough to keep from sloshing over the edge in her exuberance. She struggled with the handle for a moment before pushing the door open, gasping at the sight of the room. 

 

“Holy shit, holy shit.” She sighed as she stepped in. Even Cordelia’s jaw dropped as they entered the exceptional space.

 

Dark wooden floorboards were covered in an abundance of flower petals, which formed a curved trail to the bed; the likes of which the Supreme and her partner had never even seen in movies. “Jesus,” She breathed. What was possibly the longest, widest mattress she’d ever seen was covered in a thick, shimmering gold comforter with creme and gold laced sheets and pillows. There was more plush on the bed than she had in likely the entirety of the living quarters for one floor of the Academy. A finely woven rug surrounded the four-poster, which had whimsical, sheer-gold curtains surrounding it. 

 

“Jesus is a good call, my lady, but I’m thinkin’ more along the lines of his mother, Mary, ‘cause this is _immaculate_ ,” Misty claimed, taking her lover’s hand and drawing her across the floor until they reached the footboard. “I’d fuck you in that bed, but I’m worried ‘bout losin’ you to the pillows.”

 

Laughing, Cordelia turned her head to kiss her someday-wife, sighing at the connection between their lips. “I didn’t know they made mattresses this big,” She stated. 

 

Twisting around, Misty noted a second trail of petals that lead to what she assumed was the master bathroom. “Oh my damn,” She sucked in a heavy breath as she caught sight of the tub which was about as big as their bed at home. Every type of flower and bath oil was neatly displayed on a shelf behind it, while a very large walk-in shower was to the right. “Can we move the Academy here? I mean, I think the sun might be good for the girls’ magic.”

 

“I’m not sure,” Cordelia replied. “I think the beach might be too much of a distraction.”

 

“The beach!” Misty’s dilated eyes lit up even wider. “Oh, I wanna go to the beach. Can we?”

 

“How about,” The older witch suggested, pecking her lover’s lips, “We go back to that amazing lunch that was prepared for us and enjoy some of that first. Then we’ll explore the rest of the house and check out that beach.”

 

X  
  
Misty was almost sober by the time they’d eaten and found their way through the rest of the house — which sported multiple rooms that the younger witch decided they’d be intimate in over the course of seven days. A pool in the back of the house almost made Cordelia question why they were headed down to the sand — but the childlike wonder of her girlfriend’s disposition towards the whole island atmosphere had her convinced that they could spend the afternoon with the ocean.   


The curly haired witch seemed content to go down in the long green skirt and tank top she had on, accessories and all. “Aren’t you going to change?” Cordelia wondered. 

 

Misty shrugged. “Into what?”

  
“You’re going swimming in that?” 

 

Frowning, Misty shrugged. “Kind’a thought we’d just tear everything off and hop in.”

 

“There is staff on the island, you know,” Cordelia tried to contain a smile. “Luckily, I brought you a few presents.”

 

“Oh?” Misty leaned over her shoulder as Cordelia unzipped her Louis Vuitton rolling luggage, revealing an obsessively organized and well-packed suitcase. An ‘M’ monogrammed beach towel was in a neat little roll. The Supreme passed it over hand to her fiancee, who unrolled it with a little shake, revealing a white, one-piece suit with an incredibly open back and fringe all along the deep-v line of the front. Two cutouts along her hips had her smiling wickedly. “Wow,” She breathed. “This is a far cry from one’a Poppy’s modesty suits.”

 

Cordelia laughed and stood up, nodding her to the bathroom. “Think you can model it for me?”

 

“Only if you’ve got one to put on for me,” The witch winked.

 

Five minutes later, Misty was shimmying out with the fringe of her top dancing around her breasts, making Cordelia swallow hard as she stared, unabashedly, at her fiancee. “A perfect fit,” She commented.   
  
Misty pouted as the Supreme had pulled a thin, loose black coverup over white straps. “Wait a second, how’s this fair?”

 

“I’m the Supreme, I can do what I want.” She shrugged and Misty growled, taking her into a long embrace from behind. 

 

The younger witch tried sneaking her hands to the edge of Cordelia’s dress, but the shorter blonde shooed her away. “Come on, let’s hit the sand.”

 

Misty tossed her towel over her shoulder after hooking her sandals around her ankles, Cordelia following suit as they stepped outside. Staring at the golf cart, Cordelia raised a brow and elbowed Misty. “You can drive us down.”

 

“What? Oh, no. It might not be a real car, but I ain’t supposed to be operating heavy machinery. Doctor’s orders.”

 

Spitting out a dry laugh, Cordelia questioned, “Under which doctor’s authority?”

 

“Doctor Misty, the Witch Doctor. C’mon, ‘Delia, don’t make me drive. I’ll get us all stuck in the sand.”

 

“You’re not driving it through the sand, you dork. Come here,” She pulled on her arm and Misty whined as Cordelia slid her into the driver seat. “Turn the key over.” Grumbling, the witch obliged, shivering as it made a quiet sound. “Now, step on the break, and pull that lever to ‘D‘ — for drive, obviously.”

 

“Which one is the break?” Misty questioned, her cheeks reddening up.

 

Cordelia pointed and Misty took a visible breath before following the instructions. “Now all you have to do is put your foot on the gas and take us forward.” The witch winced then gasped as the machine shot forward, “Lighten it up a little,” Cordelia instructed then shouted, “And open your eyes!”

 

“I’m gonna get sick,” The girl groaned as she drove at approximately one mile per hour down the concrete path that led to the white, sandy beach. Cordelia chuckled and leaned back. “You must be using your powers on me if I’m actually drivin’ this damn thing — this is ridiculous.” 

 

They came to a little ledge, where Cordelia assumed was safe to park. “Turn the wheel to your left slightly, there you go — now, step on the brake. Pull the lever back to ‘P’ for park. And you did it. You drove.”

 

Misty fanned her face with her hands and her fiancee laughed as she noticed beads of sweat gathering on her forehead. “Never again,” She mumbled.

 

They walked over the sand, hand in hand. It was hot — but not scalding. Misty stared at Cordelia expectantly as she took off her shoes and plopped her towel down. “Well? Am I gonna have to tear it off ya or what?”

 

Grinning, she pulled the black cloth up and over her head, shaking her hair as Misty growled playfully and came forward as she stared at the two-piece, also white, ensemble. The bikini top gathered between her breasts, then had fabric that tied around the back, leaving two open slits at her ribcage. The bottoms were low on her hips and Misty couldn’t keep her hands off the bare skin as she hooked her hand at her waist, coming to kiss her sweetly. “You’re a freakin’ angel, you know that?”

 

Cordelia pressed their lips back together, embracing Misty’s bare back and sighing as the woman slipped a finger under her straps in the back. “Hey now,” She warned.

 

Misty had a smirk that said she had ideas forming. Taking her fiancee’s hand, she led them to the water, grinning as the wet sand tickled between her toes. Walking forward, Cordelia couldn’t help the goosebumps that rose on her skin at the temperature change. Looking up, she felt that Misty was nearly glowing as the water rose to her knees, then her thighs. She loved to be surrounded by nature, encased in it; being submerged in the pristine ocean was a highlight for her, certainly. 

 

They were just above their waists, the water a little higher on Cordelia, as she was shorter. She turned to face her partner, who flashed her a smile that still read that she was up to no good. When her arms hooked around her once again and lifted her up so that her legs were over Misty’s hips, Cordelia had an idea why. “Are you gonna touch me?” She breathed as Misty bit her lip and nodded. 

 

“You know I am,” She responded, kissing her with a long pause on her bottom lip. “You said you didn’t want the staff to see,” She murmured. “So I ain’t  gonna let ‘em.”

 

Misty kept one hand hooked around Cordelia’s middle while their lips stayed connected, then trailed the other up under the water to tickle under her bathing suit top, squeezing a wet breast and making Cordelia whimper into her mouth. “Later,” Misty started, “I’m gonna get you real drunk,” She breathed out twisting her lover’s nipple and making her groan. “‘N I’m gonna fuck you in that big bed of ours. ‘Cause I know you’re gonna love it. But I wanna fuck you drunk, baby. ‘Cause I know you won’t ever let yourself get that far gone at home, not with girls to look after—”

 

“I’m looking forward to your full explanation of my sobriety later, but right now; stop talking,” Cordelia mumbled, placing her hands on the sides of Misty’s face as she forced an open mouth kiss after kiss on the younger woman, grinding her lower half despite the resistance from the water. 

 

Misty slid her hand down from her breast to the inside of her bathing suit bottoms, making Cordelia moan almost silently before pressing her forehead to her lover’s, breathing out when two of Misty’s fingers entered her. “Mist,” She sighed her name. 

 

“You like that?” The witch wondered, pulling out then pushing back into her again. The Supreme groaned and moved with the momentum, closing her eyes as Misty pushed harder. “Mm, I know you do,” She teased. “Would you like it if I moved faster?”

 

Cordelia nodded mutely, burying her head into Misty’s shoulder. “Please,” She begged.

 

Obliging, Misty increased the pace and craned her neck so her lips were connected to Cordelia’s again. The Supreme whined contently against her, her brow furrowed in pleasure. 

 

“Can you—” She stared, and didn’t even have to finish as Misty switched her method and began to rub back and forth instead, making the older witch pant in anticipation of what was coming.

 

“Come on, baby,” Misty spoke softly, kissing and nipping at her earlobe. “Let go. I know you want to.” She plunged her tongue past Cordelia’s lips and slid her fingers back inside her fiancee’s center as she gave her telltale sign of an orgasm — a buck of her hips and a moan before burrowing to the side. “Mmm,” She sighed happily as she allowed her girlfriend to reach her pleasurable state. “That didn’t take long,” She grinned and pecked down her damp neck and pulled out of Cordelia, hooking her leg up higher around her waist. “I love it when you’re as worked up as I usually get.”

 

“You took me by surprise,” The Supreme tried defending herself and Misty clicked her tongue. 

 

“Sure,” The witch giggled and held her lover close. “I love you, ‘Delia. I’m so happy we’re here together.”

 

Agreeing, Cordelia opened her eyes and placed her palms on Misty’s shoulders, kissing her fully. “You were saying something about getting me drunk?”

 

The witch grinned and pushed Cordelia into the water, making her sputter before swimming after her laughing fiancee. 


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE STORY'S NOT OVER. It will just make more sense (it's so long and out of hand, I'd say sorry but I'm pretty sure no one has a problem with it) if it's broken into another part for the pregnancy. Who knew I was writing a trilogy? The next part will begin posting within the next two weeks — stay tuned!

Dinner the following night was a feast that could have served ten. Cordelia wasn’t sure she’d ever eaten as much as she did at the intimately lit table and chair set that had been prepared for them after another long day at the beach. 

 

Misty leaned back with a hand on her stomach as she let out a loud puff of air. “My god we’re gonna eat like this for days? I’m gonna need new clothes when we get home.”

 

“You said it,” Cordelia nodded, taking a long drink of whatever concoction had been prepared for them. She was on her third one, Misty on her fourth — and though neither was completely inebriated, both were in a realm beyond relaxed. Their cheeks were rosy from the booze and sunlight, both women bearing only the swimsuits that they’d spent the majority of the day in with skirt wraps around the middle. The porch they were eating on was surrounded by tiki lights and the sound system playing old Cher songs off a streaming service. Misty had requested music, giving a little smile when she’d told her fiancee that they could listen to something other than Stevie for a change.

 

“Do you think Cher’s a witch?” Misty wondered as she listened to the tune of _Dark Lady_. “I’m fairly sure she’s literally talkin’ about Marie Laveau in this song.” 

 

Cordelia considered it, shrugging. Though she was the Supreme, she did not have an access to a database of every witch in the world. “Not all legends are magic. Madonna’s not a witch.”

 

“Well obviously,” She shook her head. “Shootin’ fire outta her titties — unprofessional.” 

 

Cordelia giggled. “I don’t know about Cher though. I know my mother met her once, at a soiree. I feel like she might have mentioned if she were a witch. I don’t know. Fiona used to stick me in front of big ‘80s artist music videos and tell me to study how they moved, _they don’t walk around with their tails tucked between their legs, do they, ‘Delia?_ Always told me to grow a spine.”

 

“Oh, honey, you’ve got a spine,” Misty licked her lips before sucking down the rest of her drink, leaning her head back with a laugh. “I’ve slipped up and down it enough times to know.”

 

“Misty,” Cordelia flushed, downing the rest of her own drink while her insatiable partner stood up to refill them from a slushie-like Margarita machine. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get me drunk,” The Supreme said as she took the cup and Misty clinked their glasses together before a small sip. 

 

“It’s my only goal this evening,” She winked, her hips swaying in the short wrap that she had over a black, two piece suit with hot pink and turquoise jewels between the breasts. “Drink that up, Miss Cor-De-Lia,” She said, accenting every syllable.

 

Rubbing her lips together, Cordelia shrugged and sucked down over half the margarita, wincing at the end with a sharp taste of tequila. “Damn,” She grinned, standing up to greet her fiancee’s dancing hips by squeezing them. 

 

“This isn’t really a dancing song,” Misty commented, “Put on another Cher jam — somethin’ I can really shake to.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” Cordelia saluted, then laughed, covering her mouth when she realized how loud it was. “Oh, no.”

 

“Oh, _yes_ ,” The younger witch giggled as well. “It’s happening. Give in, baby doll —I’m getting you wasted.” 

 

Squinting, the Supreme glanced down at the iPod that was wirelessly connected to the sound system, sorting through music until she found one she could dance with Misty to. “There we go,” She grinned, halfway stumbling to her fiancee as she mouthed the words to the song as the tempo picked up. Misty took her hips and moved against her to the beat, her sloppy smile bringing out the fun in the usually uptight headmistress as she suddenly belted the words to the chorus. “ _This is a different kind of love song, dedicated to everyone! This is a different kind of love song — oh, oh! This is a different kind of love song, higher plan we can go on — different kind of love song, ohhhhhh!_ ”

 

Misty was in a full giggle fit as she hugged her woman tightly, holding on as she stumbled a bit. Cordelia pushed her off when the refrain came back so she could spin around, holding the length of her skirt in her fist as she moved around. Misty clapped and spun with her. 

 

The tune ended and the younger witch clasped the elder’s hands, but the Supreme shook her head and moved to change the song again. “I wanna slow dance with you,” She said, her eyelids lowering as she finished her drink hastily then turned on a much more serene beat. “We got’ta’ practice for the wedding.”

 

Lighting up and bringing her shoulders up in sheepish excitement, Cordelia nodded and pressed play, taking one of Misty’s hands and putting it on her shoulder, placing hers on the woman’s waist, insisting on leading them. Taking the other palm up, she sang along, off-tune, but astoundingly beautiful to the girl who loved her, “ _After all the stops and starts, we keep coming back to these two hearts, two angels who been rescued from the fall. After all that we’ve been through — it all comes down to me and you. I guess it’s meant to be; forever you and me._ ”

 

Misty leaned her head down, sniffing. “That’s beautiful, baby.” She kissed her neck as they continued to turn in a circle, Cordelia dropping her lips to the top of wild curls as the song finished.

 

Something more exotic came on next and Cordelia dropped her fiancee’s hands, shaking her hips and letting the music take her. Misty watched, eyes completely full of lust as the lyrics captured her, _Body to body — heart to heart_.”

 

“Hey,” She said over the thumping music and Cordelia danced over to her, grabbing her hips and grinding them into her partner. “Oh, no, no, no — you do that and I’m tearin’ your clothes off right here, right now.”

 

“Maybe I’d like that,” Cordelia said licking her lips teasingly before stepping back a little. Misty didn’t even say what she had in mind, rather she went to the mini bar behind the speakers and got the supplies she needed for something Madison had told her about. 

 

“Lay down on that chaise,” She requested and the Supreme danced her way over. Misty grinned wickedly, a bottle of tequila in one hand and a lime wedge in the other. 

 

“What are you doing?” 

 

“Takin’ a shot’a tequila. Off you.” She winked and poured about an ounce of the liquid onto Cordelia’s belly, making the older witch hiss at the cold. Misty set the lime in her teeth, wiggling her brows as she straddled her girl, leaning down and keeping eye-contact as she slid her tongue up and over the alcohol, trailing up to catch the lime in her teeth. 

 

Cordelia was panting and wanted nothing but the same as she shoved the younger witch back, performing the same gesture. 

 

Growling, she spit out the lime at the end, crashing their mouths together in a hot kiss. 

 

“More?” Misty wondered, wanting the Supreme just a notch more sloppy so she could take her upstairs and have her make noises that she’d never heard come from the witch before.

 

“Mhm,” Cordelia nodded and she let Misty drag her up to the stools. “Make it sweet, baby cakes.”

 

“Oh my god,” Misty laughed and poured two doubles (though she didn’t really know what she was doing). “Here we go, angel darlin’. To a night of amazin’ sex, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Cordelia responded, downing the liquid and reaching over the bar for Misty’s face, pressing their lips together again before pulling away to sing along with the chorus of the next song. “ _I found someone! To take away the heartache! To take away the loneliness; I been feelin’ since you been gone — since you been gone!_ ” Her fiancee rounded to her side, letting her stand up and grind up and down her body as she rocked along with the song, her breath coming in short bursts as her chest heaved with desire to undress her lover. 

 

“We gotta go up to the room,” Misty finally managed to command as Cordelia bent back, the long lines of her neck too much exposesd. “Come on — now, unless you want me fuckin’ you on the cement — let’s go.” 

 

Letting the curly haired witch drag her inside and barely able to make it up the steps without tripping, Cordelia giggled when Misty slammed open the French doors to their room and tore off her wrap in the same movement as closing it shut. Cordelia wandered slowly to their bed — her hips shaking purposefully as she did so, making Misty swallow hard. 

 

“Oh, girl,” She bit her lip as Cordelia turned around at the foot of the bed, her palms resting on the mattress as she shook her shoulders in a mess of attempted seduction — anyone else probably would have laughed; but Misty was already so turned on that she had to curl her fingers into fists to keep them at her sides as she waited for the suddenly flirty Supreme to make a move. She was inches away and Cordelia only smiled, her blonde locks tumbling down her back as she leaned her neck back slightly. 

 

Completely unable to resist, Misty gave in and straddled her at the edge of the mattress, knowing she was damp between her legs that settled over the heat radiating from Cordelia’s core. She nipped at the vein in Cordelia’s neck that stuck out when she leaned back and the Supreme gave a rumble low in her throat, leaning her cheek to brush against Misty’s, a hand leaving the bedspread to tug at her fiancee’s curls.

 

“Okay,” Misty managed huskily. “Scoot up, now.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” Cordelia said obediently, her eyelids still half-closed from the influence in her bloodstream. She crawled up the bed and Misty shook her head when she was near the top — not quite to the pillows. Nearly pouncing, she forced her gently down — her stomach on the comforter. “Ohhhh,” She grinned, looking over her shoulder as Misty sucked at the exposed skin of her back, fingers untying the string of her bikini tip around her neck and spine, letting it fall open. She trailed her nails down to slide into the band of her lover’s bottoms, pinching a cheek and making Cordelia howl in surprise, then a second time as a finger traced its way to her center. “Misty!” She called her name — not a soft whisper or a moan, or any sound she’d typically make during a night together.

 

Already getting what she wanted from the woman, Misty couldn’t help her smile of victory along the skin of her shoulder blades as she kept her finger teasing, kissing up and down her spine as she hovered over top of Cordelia, nipping, sucking — fingering with increased speed as the noises of want kept spilling from her fiancee’s lips. 

 

She paused all movements and received a whiny protest before she shimmied the last fabric covering Cordelia off her legs, tossing the bikini bottoms to the floor. Grinning, she tore off her own, keeping a hand on Cordelia’s back so she’d stay where she wanted her. Lowering her naked body over the Supreme’s she let out a moan as loud as her partner’s.

 

“Baby, please?” She begged, tilting her head. Misty shook hers, rolling Cordelia over and settling herself over the woman’s hips, spreading their thighs apart.

 

“Please, what, ‘Delia?” The younger one wondered, leaning down to stare at her pink nipples. lowering her mouth to one, she raised a brow, her blue gaze still on her partner. Popping the breast from her mouth, she demanded to know, “Please, _what_?”

 

Cordelia reached her hands up to tug on Misty’s hair, pleading, “Touch me?”

 

“Okay,” Misty shrugged, her fingernails dragging over her abdomen, then between her breasts. “I’m touchin’ you.”

 

“No,” Her submissive partner complained. “Touch me where I _want_ it,”

 

“Where do you want it?” Misty needed to hear her say. She kissed a path from her jaw down to her naval, swirling her tongue over the flesh around it; which still had the aftertaste of alcohol. “Hmmm? Where do you want me to touch you?”

 

Cordelia was usually so quiet that Misty could never get her to talk dirty; so she was taking advantage of every moment of her drunken state. “Here,” She took her own fingers and lowered them to her center, groaning as she pushed one inside.

 

“Oh, no, no, no —” Misty swatted her away, “That’s for me to touch, sweet girl. Come on now, tell me how you want me to touch you,” She dipped her hand, “Here. You want me to be real slow and gentle?” She was hardly grazing her fiancee’s swollen clit and Cordelia pouted. “No? Or do you want me to _fuck_ you, Cordelia?” 

 

“Yes,” Cordelia breathed and the younger witch disapproved with a shake of her head. 

 

“That ain’t loud enough.”

 

“Yes, Misty,” She spoke, her eyes closed as Misty continued to tease her. 

 

“Yes, what?”

 

“ _Fuck me,_ ” She shouted, shifting slightly, “Oh, fuck me, Misty, fuck me!”

 

Misty slipped her fingers inside Cordelia, who groaned and threw her head back, mumbling, “Yes,” As her fiancee went to work. “Oh, Misty —  _yes_.” 

 

Grinning at the success, Misty shifted so her legs were back over top of Cordelia’s. She rubbed their centers together and Cordelia bit her cheek, her head rolling to the side as she let out groan after groan, her hands crumpling the golden comforter. The curly haired witch was grinding against her — over and over, letting her own series of moans and pleasure out when it was appropriate — never shy about letting her partner know what she was enjoying. 

 

“Oh, oh, ‘Delia, you feel so good,” She sighed, leaning forward, pushing a palm on either side of Cordelia, adding more friction and pressure. The Supreme moved a hand to press down hard on Misty’s shoulder. 

 

“Yes, Misty!” She called out, panting as they moved faster — oh, baby, please!”

 

“Keep talkin’,” Misty insisted, she was close — but she wasn’t done with Cordelia. “Come on, baby, talk to me.”

 

“Misty, don’t stop, please,” She cried, opening an eye to meet her face, “Look at me, Misty — you’re so damn beautiful, oh, sweet jesus, you’re fucking beautiful.”

 

“You’re gorgeous. I don’t know how I ever got so lucky.” 

 

Cordelia reached the hand that had the engagement ring on it up, cupping Misty’s face. “Fuck, Misty, _fuck_.” 

 

At the last cuss, Misty trembled and came, sliding back off Cordelia — she couldn’t handle any more contact below her waist — but that didn’t mean her fiancee wouldn’t get it. Moving way back, letting the spasming within her walls push her desire, she lowered her mouth between Cordelia’s legs, licking a line down her clit and pushing her tongue inside, kissing and stroking and absolutely adoring the way that Cordelia was loudly calling her name and breathing long, panted versions of what she wanted. 

 

“Oh, Misty —I’m gonna, please, don’t stop, don’t stop, Misty —  _fuck_!” 

 

The witch sat up as Cordelia came, rolling onto her back and pulling the older woman on top of her body, kissing her sloppily, enjoying the taste of her lips as she sucked on the bottom one. “Baby, that was amazing. Think you can talk dirty for me more often, hm? It got me goin’ and I _really_ liked it.”

 

Cordelia kissed her lover’s collar bone as she snuggled at her side. “Only if you get one of those margarita makers in the Coven.”

 

“Done,” Misty giggled, holding her close. “I love you. I love you. I _fucking_ love you, Cordelia Goode.”

 

Cordelia sat up, eyes still droopy as she smirked. She pressed her mouth to her girlfriend’s and then dropped her palm between her breasts. “I’m gonna need another couple’a shots, then I’ll be ready for round two.”

 

Popping up off the bed with astonishing speed, Misty tossed a slip from the night before over her and disappeared in a flash of transmutation. Cordelia gave a great giggle and sigh in the darkness, falling back to the pillows, so looking forward to spending the rest of her life with Misty Day.   
  
X  
  
Four more days of sun and sex had passed. 

 

Though Cordelia and Misty promised themselves, after nearly forty-eight hours of straight drinking, that they’d remember the new year come in.   
  
Cordelia woke first with a groan on the last day of 2014 — her head throbbing. She’d been the drunkest that she’d been on the vacation the night before, and quite possibly, the most drunk she’d ever been in her life. Having no idea what had occurred past three in the afternoon, other than the sense that it had been some phenomenal sex based on the soreness between her legs. The Supreme let out another noise — with a desperate need to use the bathroom, she shifted Misty off her and to the mattress, where she didn’t even stir. 

 

Snickering to herself, Cordelia sniffed, getting a whiff of something that had her a little uneasy. It smelled like something had burned — though nothing looked damaged and she sensed no fire in the entire complex. Shrugging, she pressed a palm to her forehead, squinting as she stepped into the bathroom, the scent following her as the light was far too bright to see properly right away.

 

About to jump in the shower to wash off traces of their night after flushing the toilet, Cordelia checked her chest in the mirror for bruises (not that she minded) and instead found something even more horrifying.

 

Letting out a scream, she picked up the limp, dying ends of her hair on the left side, noting the short brown color that a good four-inch section had been turned into. 

 

She’d burned off her hair. 

 

And had no memory of how it’d happened. 

 

Her panic had forced Misty awake, and the younger witch stumbled into the bathroom with blurry eyes and a pale face. “Wha’s’a’matter, baby?” Cordelia didn’t have words as she lifted her charred hair once more. Misty cringed. “What happened?”

 

“I don’t know!” She cried, actually beginning to let out a small sob. “Can you fix it?”

 

Misty rubbed at her eyes, shrugging — surprisingly logical for the early hour and state of sobriety the day before. “I don’t think so, ‘Delia, hair’s already made of dead cells to begin with. Don’t think I can force life into something that’s _supposed_ to be dead.”

 

“ _No_ ,” The Supreme pushed herself up to the counter, pointing to the travesty. “You can do it. I believe in you. Please, Misty.”

 

“I...” She shrugged, coming forward and sighing, “Okay.” Closing her hand around the large chunk of hair that ended just below Cordelia’s chin, the necromancer breathed out, focusing on pouring life into the blonde locks. She tried different methods for over ten minutes before leaning back and shaking her head. “I’m sorry, ‘Delia.” 

 

Frowning, the Supreme looked at herself in the mirror. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t walk around like this!”

 

“I guess you could cut it,” The witch said nonchalantly. Her fiancee whipped around too quickly, staring hard and angry at the young woman. “Okay, jeeze. Well, what else are you gonna do? Wear a wig? Get extensions? Honey, it’s just hair. It _will_ grow back.”

 

“I’ve never had it short before,” Cordelia whined. “I’ll probably look like a man.”

 

“It’s not gonna be that short, my goodness. You ain’t gonna look like that Miley Cyrus twerkin’ her ass off.” She pulled Cordelia down off the counter and turned her to stare in the mirror. She brought all the woman’s hair in front of her shoulders, moving her fingers to where the singed area was, realizing that it wouldn’t be a pixie, but about an inch longer than a bob. “There. I think it’ll be cute, actually.” 

 

“No, it won’t,” Cordelia was getting dramatic and Misty shot her a look. “Please, let’s make a potion — anything—”

 

“Okay, okay,” Misty raised her hands. “But we don’t have anything we need here. How about this — now hear me out. Let’s cut it now — ya can’t go anywhere with it like this. Then as soon as we get home, we’ll make a fast-hair-growing potion and it’ll be back before you know it.”

 

Groaning, the older witch slumped. “Where are we going to find a stylist on the Island?”

 

Her fiancee clicked her tongue and put her hands on her fists. “Ya got no faith in me? I can cut it. I always cut my own! And mine is curly. Here,” She slid back into the main bedroom and brought the vanity stool, then opened up a drawer to find a pair of small scissors. “Take a seat. I promise, I won’t fuck it up. Are you really cryin’ right now? Goodness sakes.” Misty was about to make the first cut and Cordelia shook. “Baby,” She sighed, trying to keep calm, “I’m gonna mess it up if you keep moving. I swear, I’ll do a nice job. It’ll be okay. Just...close your eyes, okay? I’ll let you know when it’s over.”

 

Cordelia let out a deep breath and kept her back straight. Misty opened the scissors and gave the first snip, making her fiancee cringe as the burned hair was the first to go. She carried on, for nearly fifteen minutes, ensuring every last millimeter of hair was even. Stepping back as she finished and there was a sea of blonde all over the floor, the younger witch pulled a hand to her mouth to cover her smile. “‘Delia. You look _hot_. I’m not kidding. Oh. My. God.”

 

The Supreme still had her eyes shut and Misty tugged on her hands pulling her up to stand in front of the mirror. “Look at you!”

 

Slowly blinking one eye opened, Cordelia kept her face neutral. “You did a nice job,” She commented, reaching a hand back to feel the silky near-bob. “It’s just _so_ short.”

 

Misty ran her fingers through the locks, kissing her lover’s cheek near her ear. “It’s sexy. I want to fuck you with this hair.”

 

“You wanted to do that when it was long. You’re just trying to make me feel better.”

 

The younger witch took her fiancee’s hand, pressing it over her own heart. “Mm-mhm. Feel my thoughts. I mean it. You look damn sexy, ‘Delia. I love it. I really do.”  
  
Actually using her powers to believe the young woman (usually she wouldn’t), Cordelia sighed and leaned her forehead against her lover’s, whining long. “Promise me you’ll make me a potion when we get home?”

 

“I think you’d probably be better at that — but I’ll be happy to help. Come on, sweet stuff — I do wanna take a fistfull’a that short stuff and bang ya to pieces, but I’m still freakin’ dog-tired. Let’s go back to bed for a few, ‘kay?”

 

Cordelia followed her out, holding her hand, feeling a breeze on her neck, then the satin of the pillow that she hadn’t had on that portion of her skin before. Whining, she lifted the short strands so she could see them, pouting. Misty kissed the pout off of her and shook her head, winding her arm around the Supreme’s waist. “You’re _hot_. It’s _sexy_. I like it.”

 

“Okay,” She breathed out long. “If you like it, then I’ll learn to like myself. You’ve made that easier for me since the first day we met.”

 

“Aww,” Misty yawned, snuggling against her fiancee. “You’re sweet, baby. I told you it’s fine. You’ve always been fine — even blind, you were fine and damn good looking — scars ’n all. That chakra, what, the belly button one? Yeah, open that one up. You been savin’ me since day one. It’s ‘bout time I save you — even if it is just your damn hair.”

 

Cordelia let Misty curl around her, listening contently to the sound of her breathing through her nose. The air tickled against her exposed neck. Pouting again over the length of her hair, the Supreme couldn’t help but reflect on what Misty had mentioned so off-handedly before falling asleep again. She’d done a lot for the woman spooned around her — and she’d do it all again; no matter the cost. Of course, Misty had done a hell of a lot for her as well, even if the younger witch didn’t think the little things she did on a daily basis was much.  
  
The day she’d finally pulled Misty out of hell — after weeks of looking for a way to do so…She couldn’t even reflect on the process. It was something she hadn’t had the gaul to discuss with anyone but Misty, and wasn’t something she liked to think about on her own.  

 

She didn’t mind considering the ultimate embrace she’d received from Misty on the day that she’d come back, though. Tucking her fingers into the other woman’s still-long curls, she sighed, thinking about that desperate, hysterical hug that had lasted seemingly for hours.   
  
Biting the inside of her cheek, the Supreme sighed, considering the haircut and her reaction to it — losing the length was such a non-problem compared to where she’d been with the woman in her arms a year ago. Knowing Misty was sleeping already again, Cordelia lifted her fingers to touch her neatly cropped locks, then gently shook her lover awake again. Misty raised a sleepy and confused head off Cordelia’s chest, her eyelashes fluttering as she tried to understand why she was being disturbed once more.  
  
Her fiancee spoke softly, telling the Cajun witch, “I’m sorry I was such a drama queen about my hair.”

 

Misty raised a brow. “‘Re ya sorry f’r wakin’ me ‘gain, too?” 

 

Cordelia tilted the younger woman’s chin, catching her smirk in a kiss. “I appreciate you fixing it for me. I’m sorry I was so rude.”

 

“Hey,” Misty propped herself up on an elbow, leaning over Cordelia with a genuine grin. “I loved your hair, and you did too. You lost it and you weren’t expecting for that to happen. It was a startle. I get it. But you gotta believe me that I find you to be just as sexy as ever, okay?” 

 

“Okay,” Cordelia nodded, feeling the cool of the pillowcase on the back of her neck. “We’ve been thorough so much, and this was hardly anything worth throwing a complete fit over. Thank you for cutting it.”

 

“Well you’re welcome,” Misty kissed between her eyes, then the dip between her nose and lips. “But please don’t wake me up again. Or I’m gonna be a bear and a half later.”

 

Cordelia let out a soft chuckle and adjusted her fiancee in her hold once more, relishing the touch. “Alright. I’m sorry for waking you, too.”

 

“No more ‘ppologies,” Misty sighed and fell asleep instantly against Cordelia’s chest. The Supreme swallowed and sighed, the thoughts of their past, often dramatic year filling her. She hoped to remember the good and bad, then resolve to make changes for the times to come.

 

X

 

New Year’s Eve was upon the couple as they settled into a hammock between two palm trees that stood tall over the pool at their luxury vacation home. The staff on the island had promised them a light show in the sky at midnight, and the two of them were waiting and starting their own New Year’s traditions. A thin blanket covered both the women as they each had a small notebook in hand, writing to the quiet of 24 Karat Gold coming from Cordelia’s iPad. Misty hummed under her breath as she scrawled over the paper; trying to make her handwriting at least legible. 

 

It was a half hour until the new year, both women were content in the presence of one another — using the light of tiki lamps all around them as they wrote out new year’s resolutions. The Supreme recalled her mother thinking such traditions were absolute bullshit, but she was pretty statute in her resolve — unlike Fiona. 

 

She sighed as she placed her notebook down, swallowing thickly as she identified with Stevie Nicks more than usual as the sweet sounds of Lady touched her after finishing her list of changes she wanted to make. _And the time keeps going on by, and I wonder — what is to become of me? And I’m unsure; I can’t see my way, and he says, lady, you don’t need to see. And the time keeps going on bye and I wonder what is to become of me?_

 

Misty lifted her gaze over the sloppy cursive she had placed on her paper, tilting her head. “ _Lady, you don’t need to see_ ,” She sang along, placing her pen down and reaching for her fiancee’s hand, squeezing it. “What’cha got, sweetheart?”

 

Cordelia shrugged, not wanting to read her list out loud. “Come on,” Misty forced her to smile as she leaned over, kissing her cheek sweetly. “What’s wrong, hm? This was your idea.”

 

“I guess I just got really serious.” She said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “It’s scary — thinking about this new year. We’ve accomplished so much and learned so much this past year. I’m just afraid of what messes we might step in in the new one.”

 

“Well, whatever you step in,” Misty snuggled up to her, dropping her notebook into her lap and running a hand over Cordelia’s stomach and up to graze her breasts and settle over her heart. “I’ll be there to help you clean up. Hell, I’ll hopefully be just as messy as you are. ‘Cause whatever it is you need, I’m gonna do it for or with you, okay? That balance you want to find? Ya gotta let me help you with more within the Coven to achieve it, I think. I can handle it. I got your back, ‘Delia.”

 

“You got me?” The Supreme wanted to know, her lips pressed together as she tried not to smile. 

 

“I got you, babe,” Misty responded, kissing those pursed lips and then sitting up to reach for the iPad, switching the song with a newfound practiced ease with the electronic device. Cordelia groaned and laughed as the music shifted and Misty sang along to with Cher, “ _They say we’re young and we don’t know, we won’t find out until we grow_.”

 

Cordelia snickered through Sonny Bono’s portion of the song. “ _Well I don’t know if all that’s true, ‘cause you got me and baby I got you._ ”

 

Misty tipped her forehead to her lover’s as they chorused together, “ _I got you babe. I got you babe_.” 

 

They laughed in unison and Cordelia cleared her throat as she picked up her notebook, reading her resolutions out loud as the song played low behind her voice. “I will spend every day working on finding balance in my life. I will work on delegating more to my council and other witches that are capable of helping me. I will stop worrying so much about what is coming up. I will spend more time focusing on the present and those who I share it with. I will spend more quality time with Misty,” The younger woman kissed her temple as she read over her shoulder, admiring Cordelia’s loopy script. “I will work on rebuilding my relationship with Myrtle. I will start taking the fertility potions when they are ready. I will not worry about the future and how I’m going to manage being the Supreme and a mother. That will work itself out. I will trust that Misty knows what she’s doing and do everything in my power to make our journey to pregnancy successful. I will remind Misty that she’s my everything every day, and show it as often as possible. I will let our love manifest itself into new life.”

 

“Oh,” The necromancer sat up, wiping at her tears, fanning her face. “‘Delia, that was absolutely beautiful. You’re a damn poet, sheesh,” She sniffed, laughing as she drew her face down to capture her fiancee in a kiss. “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too. Now, your turn.”

 

“After that?” She scoffed, looking at the notebook in her lap. “Mine’s not that good. You’re much more of a prolific writer than I am.”

 

“So?” Cordelia sat up, closing the cover of her notebook, tucking her pen in the spine of the spiral. 

 

Misty groaned. “You know me better than I know myself,” She whined. “Can’t you read my resolutions then re-write ‘em so they sound pretty like yours?” 

 

Shaking a finger, Cordelia sang a bit of a line she’d heard probably a dozen times during the trip alone. “ _No, you write your songs yourself_.”

 

Pouting, Misty lifted her notebook and curled back into her lover’s side. “Usin’ Stevie against me — aught’a be a crime.” She gave a heavy sigh. “I’m resolving that 2015 will be the year where I start a journey as a witch, a teacher, a lover, and a mother,” She smiled a little as Cordelia’s fingers found her curly locks. “It’s also going to be a year where I explore other musical artists,” She took a heavy breath. “Though I will personally let Stevie know, it’s nothin’ against her, it’s mostly for the sake of those around me.” Cordelia laughed, enjoying the resolutions already. She’d have been reading over Misty’s shoulder, but she couldn’t often translate her writing. “I resolve to spend more time working on my practice as a healer. I will figure out a system so that I can see people regularly while still teaching and creating new medicine. I will work on helping Cordelia achieve balance in her life as the Supreme. I will put a baby in her before this year is out, and prepare myself to settle into actual adulthood as a mom, and fiancee to one amazing, beautiful woman.”

 

“Aww, Misty,” Cordelia grinned and kissed her, sighing into her mouth. “That was wonderful. Don’t sell yourself short.” She lifted the source of their music, noting there were only fifteen minutes until midnight. “Okay, what was the best part of the year for you?”

 

“Hmm…” Misty tapped her lip with her index finger as she thought. “I think we should do a top five,” Actually, yeah. Let’s do that. Can you write ‘em down in the notebooks?” 

 

“Sure,” She responded. “We’ll take turns,” She lifted her pen, creating a column with each of their names in hers. “You go first. Give me one of your tops.”

 

“Puttin’ those baby-rapin’ bastards into the ground,” Misty stated firmly. “Savin’ those girls at the compound. Working through my own inner demons to save others and myself. What about you?”

 

Cordelia shrugged. “I know it’s not really…the happiest thing to think about, but, opening up to you about my past and having you accept me — totally, completely, and you promising to never give me a reason to feel like I had to hurt myself to feel again.”

 

Misty opened her arms and pulled Cordelia over, glancing at the barely-there scars along her forearm. After a kiss to the top of her head, she let the Supreme scribble down the thought, then added the next one of her own. “Number four for me would be the day I came back. You looked at me, with them big, gorgeous brown eyes, the first time I’d ever seen ‘em, and you told me I was home. And even though it was before any of…” She motioned with her hands, “This, I knew — I was. I was right where I wanted to be for the rest of my life.”

 

“My number four would have to be the look on your face when I told you that you were home. Your jaw dropped and you just stared at me, in tears when you realized it was real — that you weren’t in hell anymore. And that hug — oh that hug that you gave me right after. It was to this day the absolute most important embrace I’ve ever received.”

 

“Aww,” Misty stroked her upper arm and shrugged. “I guess three for me is when we were alone in the cabin. I loved that long weekend with you ’n my swamp.”

 

“My number three would have to be something related to the Coven — and that’s having the greatest numbers in our people’s history.”

 

“Amen to that!” Misty cheered, “You did that, ‘Delia. You should be so damn proud of yourself.” She let the older witch catch up on writing before declaring, “My second best would be the engagement,” Misty grinned, a happy flush spreading over her cheeks. “Knowing that someday you’ll be my wife is the absolute most exciting thing.”

 

“I was going to say being proposed to,” She sighed. “It was such a wonderful surprise,” She glanced down at her ring, then to her fiancee. “And I can’t wait to make you my wife, either.”

 

They shared a surprisingly innocent kiss before Misty confessed. “My top memory of the year, though?” She grinned. “Is a combination of many, many nights, of making beautiful love with you. Our intimacy is the highlight of my year. Every time is special, sacred. It’s only us — you and me. And that’s the way I want the rest of my life to be.”

 

Cordelia rested her head over Misty’s heart as she squeezed her side. Misty played with her short hair, still finding her ridiculously damn sexy. “My number one…Was realizing that even though I’m nervous, that I want to have a baby with you.” Misty felt her lower lip tremble at that announcement; she was still soaking it up herself. “I know — after all the amazing and beautiful things we’ve done together, maybe it’s silly that it’s my number one.”   
  
“No way,” Misty kissed her hard on the top of her head. “It’s the best thing, ‘Delia honest. It’s what I want more than anything, and knowing that you want it too, well. It’s perfect.”

 

An alarm on Cordelia’s iPad alerted them that they had one minute remaining of 2014. Misty patted her fiancee and Cordelia stood, revealing a lacy black romper that Misty had picked out for the Supreme, insisting that she had to see her in it at some point. The same had gone for the incredibly short, white, long-sleeved vintage dress that Misty was wearing, with wide sleeves and translucent layers. Her curly hair was adorned with a brown, faux leather, braided headband that wrapped all the way around like a crown and the two of them were a sight. Cordelia held onto both of Misty’s hands and they stared into one another’s eyes as the little app from the screen beeped and they counted down together from ten.   
  
As they reached one, fireworks lit up the sky and Cordelia cupped Misty’s cheeks, leaning in for a long kiss, forcing her lover’s mouth open and slipping her tongue in. Misty felt weak as she steadied herself with hands on the Supreme’s hips.   
  
Pulling away long enough to look up at the fireworks, Misty giggled and leaned her forehead against Cordelia’s. The older witch snuggled her close, squeezing her hip. “Oh, hold on,” She reached for the hammock, taking the iPad and opening the camera, flipping the view around. “We’re doing a sober selfie, hope that’s okay,” She said through a smile.

 

With fireworks booming behind them, they took several nice photos before resuming the kiss. 

 

The light show went on for nearly the first quarter of the New Year, finally quieting down as two of the assistants brought out a cart of champagne and other beverages. The couple thanked them, having decided they wanted to remember the first night of their year (after Cordelia’s haircut, they both decided to take it easy with the alcohol). Pouring a glass of traditional New Years’ spirit for both of them, Cordelia raised hers, a flush staining her cheeks as she said, “Hopefully, next year I’m drinking sparkling grape juice instead.”

 

“To 2015,” Misty agreed, clinking their glasses together before taking her first sip and winding her arm around her fiancee. “Happy New Year, ‘Delia. I can’t wait to spend it with you.”


End file.
